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THE    FARMSTEAD 


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THE  FARMSTEAD 


THE    MAKING    OF  THE    RURAL   HOME  AND 
THE   LAY-OUT   OF  THE   FARM 


BY 

ISAAC    PHILLIPS    ROBERTS 

Director  of  the  College  of  Agriculture  and  Professor  of  Agriculture  in 
Cornell    University ;    author  of    "  The  Fertility  of  the   Land " 


FIFTH  EDITION 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:   MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1910 

All  rights  reserved 


ft* 


Copyright,  1900 
By    THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 


^et  up  and  electrotyped  January,  1900 

Reprinted  August,  1902;  January,  1903; 

August,  1907;  June,  1910 


1113k. 


Haunt    ptrasanf    |r;ai 

J.  Horace  McFarland  Company 

Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGES 

I.   Rural  Homes 1-11 

II.    The  Farm  as  a  Source  of  Income 12-42 

-   III.    Educational  Opportunity  on  the  Farm 43-53 

IV.    Selection  and  Purchase  of  Farms 54-64 

V.    The  Relation  of  the  Farmer  to  the  Lawyer    . 

{By  Hon.  DeForest  VanVleet)  .  65-73 

VI.    Locating  the  House 74-86 

VII.    Planning  Rural  Buildings 87-131 

VIII.    Building  the  House  —  General  Lay-out   ....  132-157 

Building  the  Foundations 138 

Wooden  Houses  —  The  Frame  , 142 

IX.   Building  the  House,  Concluded  —  Outside  Cov- 
ering, Painting 158-180 

Veneered  Houses      . 168 

Old  Houses 170 

Painting  the  House 173 

X.    Inside  Finish,  Heating,  and  Ventilation  ....  181-192 
Heating  and  Ventilation 190 

XI.    House  Furnishing  and  Decoration 

{By  Professor  Mary  Roberts  Smith)  .  193-203 

XII.   Cleanliness  and  Sanitation — Water  Supply  and 

Sewage  .  {By  Professor  Mary  Roberts  Smith)  .  204-223 
Water  Supply  and  Sewage 217 

(v) 


vi  Contents 

CHAPTER  PAGES 

XIII.  Household  Administration,  Economy,  and  Com- 

fort .    .  {By  Professor  Mary  Roberts  Smith)  .  224-236 

XIV.  The  Home  Yard   .    {By  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey)    .  237-248 
XV.    A  Discussion  of  Barns 249-265 

Location       255 

Planning  the  Barn 259 

Water  Supply 261 

XVI.    Building  the  Barn  — The  Basement 266-287 

Excavation 268 

Walls 271 

Floors       , 277 

Stalls 280 

Mangers  and  Ties 285 

XVII.    Building  the  Barn  — The  Superstructure  .   .  288-297 

XVIII.   Remodeling  Old  Barns 298-305 

XIX.    Outbuildings  and  Accessories 306-320 

Poultry  Houses      306 

Piggeries 311 

The  Silo 316 

XX.   Lightning  Protection   {By  H.  H.  Norris,  M.E.)  .  321-335 

Metal  Roofs 324 

Protecting  Wooden  Roofs 326 

XXI.   The  Fields 336-345 

Fences 336 

Orchards •  340 

Farm  Garden 341 


THE  FARMSTEAD 


CHAPTER    I 
BUBAL    HOMES 

Man  is  made  partly  by  heredity,  partly  by 
environment ;  both  may  be  controlled  and  modi- 
fied to  a  far  greater  extent  than  is  generally 
supposed.  In  speaking  of  farm  life,  its  dis- 
advantages ar.e  frequently  emphasized,  while  its 
possible  advantages  as  an  environment  for  the 
development  of  the  finest  quality  of  human 
nature    are    as    often    ignored    or  overlooked. 

Nature,  with  her  ever- varying  form  and  color, 
beauty  and  symmetry,  is  forgotten  in  the  city; 
the  shady  forest,  the  meadow  brook,  the  waving 
fields,  are  unknown.  There,  instead,  is  incessant 
noise,  the  clang  and  clash  of  trade,  towering 
and  ugly  buildings,  skies  darkened  by  the  smoke 
of  factories,  children  who  never  saw  a  tree  or 
played  elsewhere  than  upon  a  hard  and  filthy 
pavement ;  and  worst  of  all  is  the  nerve-destroy- 
ing haste  and  unequal   competition,  wearing  out 

A  (1) 


2  The   Farmstead 

body  and  soul.  In  rural  life,  however  tame  and 
lonely,  the  home  is  not  merely  a  few  square 
feet  hedged  in  by  brick  walls,  but  the  whole 
wide  countryside :  the  barns,  the  fields,  the 
woods,  the  orchards,  the  animals  wild  and  do- 
mesticated, the  outlook  over  hill  and  valley  — 
these   all   constitute   the   farmer's  home. 

The  manufacturer  locates  his  factory  in  some 
by- street  or  suburb  where  land  is  cheap,  and 
as  far  as  possible  from  the  residence  part  of  the 
city;  his  home  is  far  removed  from  these  un- 
sightly surroundings.  But  the  farmer  must  live 
within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  his  barns  and  out- 
buildings, and  if  these  be  ugly  and  dirty,  the 
beauty  and  comfort  of  the  home  are  sadly 
marred.  If  the  farmer,  then,  has  the  whole 
landscape  as  a  background  for  his  home,  he 
must  on  the  other  hand  modify  his  immediate 
surroundings  so  as  to  overcome  their  almost  in- 
evitable unsightliness. 

Besides  the  ever-present  beauties  of  nature, 
country  life  has  certain  other  advantages  over 
the  city:  it  is  the  place  to  develop  the  strong 
health -physique.  The  luxury  of  rich  and  popu- 
lous communities  tends  to  produce  puny  and 
enervated  citizens;  the  excessive  toil,  bad  air, 
limited  space  and  scant  food  of  the  poor  tend 
to  degrade  and  destroy  body  and  soul  ;  but  the 
comfortable  simplicity,    space,  air,  sunlight    and 


The   Human   Animal  3 

abundant  food  of  the  open  country  give  oppor- 
tunity for  the  finest  development  of  the  human 
animal.  It  is  true  that  even  on  the  farm  there 
are  sometimes  overwork  and  privation ;  but,  at 
the  worst,  these  cannot  be  so  severe  as  in  cities 
so  long  as  the  sun  shines,  the  wind  blows, 
and  green  things  grow  for  the  worker  out 
of  doors.  Here  the  child  may  be  born  right 
and  nourished  by  pure  food  and  air.  It  is 
surrounded  by  animals  whose  life  and  motion 
become  an  iDcentive  to  action,  and  who  become 
its  companions  without  danger  of  moral  con- 
tamination. The  lamb,  the  calf,  the  colt,  are  far 
safer  playmates  than  the  city  urchin  precociously 
wise  in  evil  ways. 

Professor  Amos  Gr.  Warner  says  that  "chil- 
dren reared  in  institutions  are  much  below  par 
because  they  lack  the  power  of  initiative."  The 
farm  child  has  an  incessant,  varied  and  uncon- 
scious training  of  the  eye,  the  hand,  and  the 
mind.  While  he  is  developing  strength,  sym- 
metry, courage,  the  mental  is  being  coordinated 
with  the  physical.  The  hand  is  made  to  obey 
the  will,  while  the  fact  that  the  handicraft  is 
made  useful  lends  charm  and  delight  to  the 
work.  The  city  child  must  try  to  learn,  by  a 
course  of  manual  training  in  some  public  school, 
what  the  country  child  picks  up  unconsciously 
in  the    natural   process    of   play   and  work. 


4  The   Farmstead 

After  half  a  century,  I  look  back  to  one  of 
the  happiest  moments  of  my  life,  when  I  pre- 
sented my  mother  with  a  dove -tailed  wooden 
flower  box,  painted  bright  red.  That  flower  box 
first  taught  me  how  to  make  wood  take  the 
form  desired.  While  the  flower  box  has  long 
since  rotted,  the  board -runner  sled  smashed,  the 
water  wheel  broken,  and  the  boat  lies  rotten  in 
the  bottom  of  the  lake,  the  time  spent  upon 
them  was  not  thrown  away,  for  they  gave  me 
the  inspiration  and  power  to  "boss"  wood,  and 
this  power  has  served  me  well  in  many  an 
emergency. 

As  knowledge  begins  to  dominate  the  hand 
and  train  it  to  change  the  form  and  character 
of  things,  certain  physical  laws  are  discovered. 
If  the  sail  is  made  too  large  or  the  boat  too 
narrow,  a  cold  bath  is  the  result.  If  the  sled 
runners  are  too  short  and  rough,  the  school- 
mate arrives  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  first.  No 
schoolmaster  was  needed,  for  when  one  of  these 
natural  laws  was  broken  or  ignored,  the  penalty 
followed  quickly  and  with  full  force.  So,  in  a 
thousand  ways,  the  youth  is  taught  respect  for 
the  laws  which  govern  matter.  All  this  leads 
the  youth  on  the  farm,  if  full  play  and  direction 
are  given,  to  investigate  everything  in  sight, 
to  discover  that  there  are  other  than  physical 
laws.      The    higher    laws    puzzle     him    greatly, 


Physical,  Mental   and   Spiritual  5 

give  him  much  concern,  lead  to  doubts,  for 
they  are  too  abstract  and  too  far-reaching  for 
his  youthful  comprehension.  The  physical  laws 
have  been  found  by  experience  to  be  ever  true 
and  stable,  and  the  youth  cannot  but  believe 
that  moral  and  spiritual  laws  are  equally  so. 
This  is  the  sheet  anchor  which  holds  him  to 
belief  in  them,  however  imperfectly  he  may 
understand  them.  He  is  anxious  to  investigate, 
even  to  experiment  along  these  lines,  but  is 
disappointed  because  the  results  cannot  be  set 
down  in  pounds  or  feet  or  units  of  energy.  If 
here  on  the  farm  the  mental  and  physical  have 
been  kept  healthy  and  active,  the  moral  and 
spiritual  will  develop  as  naturally  as  the  fruit 
from  the  blossom.  The  development  of  spiritual 
fruit  to  high  perfection  is  slow,  because  the 
power  to  think  and  reason  correctly  and  ab- 
stractly comes  only  with  age,  experience  and 
mental   development. 

But  the  greatest  advantage  of  country  life 
lies  in  the  opportunity  for  the  promotion  of 
healthy  family  relations.  Parents  naturally  find 
their  chief  happiness  in  the  education  and  develop- 
ment of  their  children;  and  in  time  the  children 
stimulate  the  parents.  The  sharing  of  common 
labors  from  babyhood  up,  the  working  together 
for  common  interests  and  ambition,  which  farm 
life   especially  entails,  produce  the    most  whole- 


6  The    Farmstead 

some  family  relations.  The  most  valuable  part 
of  any  person's  education  is  really  in  the  home. 
To  "  help  father  and  mother"  becomes  the  key- 
note of  a  child's  life,  and  unselfish,  willing  ser- 
vice is  the  first  and  last  and  best  lesson  of 
morality  and  religion.  The  pride  in  honest  and 
capable  ancestors,  the  natural  and  wholesome 
ambition  for  the  future  of  the  children,  fill  up 
a  measure  of  contentment  difficult  to  find  else- 
where. In  such  a  family  there  need  be  nothing 
to  conceal  ;  life  takes  on  dignity  in  place  of 
affectation,  honesty  instead  of  sham;  it  has  sim- 
plicity, pure  affections,  fidelity.  Artificial  sex 
distinctions  disappear  ;  men  and  women  may  do 
that  which  is  needful  and  human,  the  woman  in 
the  field,  the  man  in  the  house,  if  desirable, 
sharing   their  common,  healthful    activities. 

All  this  is  very  well,  some  will  say,  but  how 
shall  such  a  home  be  maintained  on  the  income 
of  the  farm?  "Farming  doesn't  pay."  This  state- 
ment is  unverified,  and,  carrying  on  its  face,  as 
it  does,  a  little  truth,  is  misleading.  Does  farm- 
ing pay  ?  Does  anything  pay  ?  What  is  pay  ? 
All  depends  upon  how  you  value  the  currency 
in  which  the  pay  is  received.  Is  "  wisdom  bet- 
ter than  rubies?"  Are  the  sayings  of  the  wisest 
and  best  of  men  true  ?  "  Give  me  neither  riches 
nor  poverty.  Get  wisdom,  get  understanding, 
Take   fast   hold   of   instruction," 


American   Peasantry  7 

A  modern  thinker,  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey, 
in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Connecticut 
Board  of  Agriculture,  1898,  puts  it  in  this  wise  : 
"  But  there  is  another  cause  of  apprehension 
which  I  ought  to  mention,  perhaps  founded  upon 
the  probable  tendencies  of  our  sociological  and 
economic  conditions,  especially  as  they  apply  to 
rural  communities.  There  is  a  tendency  towards 
a  division  of  estates  as  population  increases,  and 
the  profits  of  farming  are  often  so  small  that 
educated  tastes,  it  is  thought,  cannot  be  satis- 
fied on  the  farm.  There  are  those  who  believe 
that  because  of  these  two  facts  we  are  ourselves 
drifting  towards  an  American  peasantry.  Let 
us  take  the  second  proposition  first, — that  the 
profits  of  farming  are  so  small  that  educated 
tastes  cannot  be  satisfied  and  gratified  on  the 
farm.  Now  I  grant  this  to  be  true  if  the 
measure  of  the  satisfaction  of  an  educated  taste 
is  money  ;  but  I  deny  it  most  strenuously  if  the 
satisfaction  of  an  educated  taste  lies  in  a  purer 
and  better  life.  We  must  make  this  distinction 
very  deep  and  broad,  for  it  is  a  fundamental  one. 
I  believe  we  have  made  a  mistake  in  teaching 
agriculture,  during  the  last  few  years,  by  put- 
ting the  emphasis  on  •  the  money  we  make  out 
of  it.  I  do  not  believe  that  people  are  to  become 
wealthy  on  the  farm,  as  a  few  do  in  manufac- 
turing ;  I  should  not  hold  out  that  hope  to  men. 


8  The   Farmstead 

There  are  certain  men  here  and  there  who  have 
great  executive  ability,  who  see  the  strategic 
points  and  take  advantage  of  them,  who  can 
make  a  success  of  farming  the  same  as  they 
would  at  the  making  of  shoes,  or  harnesses,  or 
buttons,  or  anything  else.  But  as  a  general 
thing,  the  farmer  should  be  taught  that  the 
farm  is  not  the  place  to  become  wealthy.  I  do 
not  believe  it  is.  Certainly  I  should  not  go  on 
the  farm  with  that  idea  in  view.  But  if  I 
wanted  to  live  a  happy  life,  if  I  wanted  to  have 
at  my  command  independence  and  the  comforts 
of  living,  I  do  not  know  where  I  could  better 
find  them  than  on  the  farm ;  for  those  very 
things  which  appeal  to  an  educated  taste  are 
the  things  which  the  farmer  does  not  have  to 
buy, — they  are  the  things  which  are  his  already." 
The  wealthy  few  of  the  cities  give  voice  to 
the  thought  that  the  farming  classes  in  the 
United  States  are  always  on  the  verge  of  pov- 
erty, yet  in  the  last  century  they  have  rescued 
from  barbarism  and.  solitude  nearly  all  of  the 
arable  land  of  the  two  billion  acres  of  which 
the  United  States  are  composed.  More  than 
four  million  five  hundred  thousand  farm  homes 
have  been  planted,  valued  at  more  than  thirteen 
billion  dollars.  Much  hue  and  cry  has  been 
raised  of  late  about  farm  mortgages.  If  the 
facts  were  known,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 


Income   of  Farmers  9 

the  farmers,  as  a  whole,  have  assets  in  mort- 
gages, promissory  notes  and  savings  banks  amply 
sufficient  to  liquidate  all  such  outstanding  obli- 
gations. Added  to  the  real  estate,  the  farmers 
own  implements  and  machines  valued  at  five 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  their  live  stock, 
upon  ten  thousand  hills,  numbers  one  hundred 
and  seventy -five  millions,  valued  at  more  than 
two  billions  of  dollars,  while  the  annual  value 
of  the  farm  products  is  between  two  and  three 
billions  of  dollars.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  these  values  are  nominal,  the  true  value 
being  in  most  cases  more  than  double  these 
amounts.  The  farmers  are  not  now  in  danger 
of  becoming  paupers.  From  the  farms  come 
more  than  half  of  the  college  students.  At  the 
present  time  it  is  probable  that  the  income  of 
the  farmers  exceeds  three  billion  dollars  annu- 
ally. When  it  is  considered  that  there  is  little 
or  no  direct  outgo  for  rent  of  house,  and  that 
nearly  three -fourths  of  the  food  is  produced  at 
home,  and  that  these  items  are  seldom  taken  into 
account  in  the  statistics  of  income,  it  appears 
that  the  farmer's  real  income  is  much  larger 
than  is  usually  estimated  in  money.  In  other 
words,  a  five  hundred  dollar  net  income  on  the 
farm,  under  the  conditions  which  now  prevail, 
provides  for  a  more  comfortable  living  than 
does    a   thousand    dollars    in   the    city. 


10  The    Farmstead 

But  these  results  of  the  labors  of  the  farmer 
as  set  forth  in  figures,  tell  but  half  the  story, 
for  nothing  is  said  in  these  census  reports  of 
an  empire  redeemed,  of  the  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  miles  of  road  constructed,  of  rivers 
spanned,  of  the  school  house  by  every  roadside, 
or  of  the  church  spires  which  mark  the  progress 
of  agriculture  and  civilization  in  countryside,  in 
village  and  in  hamlet.  The  census  report  does 
not  give  the  number  or  value  of  the  great  men 
and  noble  women  which  the  rural  homes  have 
produced,  though  they  are  the  most  valuable 
product  of  the  farms.  It  says  nothing  about 
the  perennial  rural  springs  from  which  flow,  in 
a  never-ending  stream,  statesmen,  divines,  mis- 
sionaries, teachers,  students  and  business  men. 
Although  more  than  half  of  these  life-giving 
energies  of  the  nation  and  civilization  come 
directly  from  the  rural  homes,  the  census  report 
gives  no  clue  by  which  the  value  of  these,  the 
nation's  wealth  and  power,  can  be  ascertained. 

Looking  over  all  the  trades  and  professions 
which  are  followed  by  civilized  and  barbarous 
peoples,  none  give  opportunity  for  rearing 
the  family  under  so  nearly  ideal  conditions 
as  does  the  profession  of  agTiculture :  none 
furnish  such  good  conditions  for  rearing  children 
and  for  developing  them  into  strong,  natural 
and    useful   men    and   women.     Here,   then,    on 


Loyalty    and    Contentment  11 

these  broad  acres  of  America,  under  the  flag 
which  we  love,  we  are  to  help  transform  the 
rude  surroundings  of  the  pioneer  and  the  slov- 
enly homes  of  the  careless  into  pure  and  beau- 
tiful nurseries  of  American  citizenship.  Having 
shown,  in  part,  what  a  rural  life  has  to  offer  to 
those  who  are  trained  to  appreciate  the  beauties 
of  nature  and  to  obey  her  laws,  and  having 
shown  that  the  average  farmer  always  has  an 
assured  though  modest  income,  and  that  the 
better  farmers  have  an  ample  income  for  main- 
taining improved  rural  homes,  the  further  dis- 
cussion of  how  they  may  be  made  to  minister 
to  the  natural  longings  for  broader  and  more 
refined   lives   may  be  taken  up. 


CHAPTER    II 
THE    FARM  AS   A    SOURCE    OF  IXCOME 

If  it  cannot  be  shown  that  the  profession  of 
agriculture  offers  as  good  opportunities  for  se- 
curing, with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty,  what  all 
should  prize, — a  beautiful  and  comfortable  home 
and  a  modest  surplus,  —  then  this  little  vol- 
ume will  be  for  the  most  part  useless  and  un- 
called for,  as  the  following  chapters  presup- 
pose an  income  sufficient  for  maintaining  a 
home,  and  for  gratifying,  in  part  at  least,  the 
simple,  educated  tastes  of  the  better  class  of 
American  farmers. 

In  "The  Fertility  of  the  Land'7  I  attempted 
to  set  forth  some  fundamental  principles  which, 
if  followed,  should  result  in  such  increased  in- 
comes as  to  justify  the  present  book.  A  com- 
fortable home  must  be  secured  from  the  products 
of  field  and  stable,  with  a  reasonable  expenditure 
of  physical  energy,  or  farming  in  its  highest 
sense  is  a  failure.  In  addition,  farming  must 
give  fair  opportunity  for  training  and  educating 
families,  and  for  making  provision  for  old  age 
and  unforeseen  contingencies. 

(12) 


Leisure   and   Education  13 

In  the  previous  chapter  the  annual  income 
of  the  farmer  has  been  set  forth,  and,  approxi- 
mately, the  accumulated  earnings  of  the  rural 
population.  Unfortunately,  we  are  so  short- 
sighted that  the  present — the  dollar — blunts  the 
appreciation  of  the  higher  and  more  enduring 
values  which  spring  from  well  conducted  farms. 
This  being  so,  of  necessity  much  stress  must 
be  laid  on  immediate  benefits  which  flow  from  a 
well  ordered  farm  life.  While  it  is  not  proposed 
to  write  here  of  the  details  of  farm  manage- 
ment along  the  lines  of  greatest  financial  re- 
sults, yet  something  must  be  said,  at  least  in 
general,  about  the  methods  most  likely  to  pro- 
duce the   necessary  competence. 

A  fairly  liberal  income  and  financial  reserve 
give,  or  should  give,  some  leisure.  Leisure  gives 
opportunity  for  study  and  recreation,  without 
which  life  becomes  one  ever -revolving  round  of 
work,  and  results  in  producing  an  automatic 
animal.  If  this  is  to  be  avoided,  far-reaching 
plans  must  be  laid,  energy  directed  into  its 
most  efficient  channels,  and  time  and  resources 
economized.  All  this  implies  training  and  edu- 
cation directed,  primarily,  along  the  lines  which 
broaden  and  ennoble,  and  those  of  the  occupa- 
tion to  be  followed. 

For  centuries,  the  higher  education  has  been 
in  the   direction  of  the  humanities,  while   educa- 


14  The   Farmstead 

tion  along  technical  and  non- professional  lines, 
until  recently,  has  been  conspicuous  by  its  ab- 
sence. Prior  to  the  present  century,  what 
provision  was  made  for  coordinating  the  hands 
and  intellects  of  the  industrial  classes?  None 
at  all.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  the  farmer 
and  mechanic,  until  recently,  received  but  meager 
rewards  for  their  efforts? 

All  this  is  now  changed.  Already  the  indus- 
trial classes  are  enabled  to  secure  far  more  of 
the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life  for  a  given 
period  of  work  than  could  their  ancestors.  In 
every  state  and  territory  one  or  more  colleges 
have  been  equipped  and  endowed  to  teach,  among 
other  things,  "  such  branches  of  learning  as  are 
related    to    agriculture    and    the    mechanic    arts, 

in  order  to  promote   the   liberal  and 

practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes  in 
the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life. " 
In  addition  to  this  provision,  Congress  gives  to 
each  state  and  territory  $15,000  annually  for 
conducting  experiments  and  investigations  in 
agriculture.  In  1890  the  Federal  government 
supplemented  the  benefactions  of  1862  by  ap- 
propriating annually  $15,000  to  each  of  the 
Land  Grant  colleges ;  this  sum  has  now  been 
increased  and  finally  fixed  at  $25,000,  for  the 
purpose  of  strengthening  the  departments  of 
agriculture    and   mechanic    arts.      Most,    if    not 


Education    Broadens  15 

all,  of  the  states  have  made  additional  appro- 
priations for  agriculture,  in  some  cases  very 
libera]  ones.  At  first,  there  was  a  strong  pre- 
judice against  these  colleges  devoted  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  industries  and  those  engaged 
in  them,  but  this  has  nearly  disappeared. 

A  broader  view  of  education  now  prevails  than 
formerly.  The  modern  colleges  and  universities 
think  it  not  undignified  to  offer  other  than  four 
year  courses  of  study  preceded  by  difficult  en- 
trance requirements.  Many  courses  of  from  six 
weeks  to  one  or  two  years  are  now  open  to  those 
who  prize  knowledge  above  a  diploma.  Most  of 
these  courses  are  given  at  such  seasons  of  the 
year  as  best  suit  the  pupils.  In  America  all 
doors  which  lead  to  knowledge  have  at  last  been 
opened,  and  all  earnest  students  may  enter  and 
find  teachers  awaiting  them.  The  effect  of  the 
recent  changes  in  college  courses  has  been  most 
marked  and  beneficial.  Many  of  the  colleges 
have,  as  far  as  possible,  adopted  the  words  of 
the  founder  of  Cornell  University:  "I  would 
found  an  institution  where  any  person  can  find 
instruction  in  any  study." 

The  following  data  show  the  incomes  of  the 
United  States  Land  Grant  colleges  for  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1897.  The  table  is  condensed 
from  one  recently  published  by  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  : 


16 


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18  The    Farmstead 

It  has  been  thought  strange  that  the  farmers 
did  not  more  quickly  see  and  appreciate  the 
valuable  opportunities  offered  to  their  children. 
But  why  should  they  at  once  appreciate  and 
value  the  princely  provisions  which  were  being 
made  for  them?  With  no  opportunity  for  edu- 
cation along  the  lines  of  their  profession,  follow- 
ing a  more  or  less  despised  calling,  from  being 
the  butt  and  jest  of  those  who  had  had  educa- 
tional advantages  from  time  immemorial,  how 
could  they  at  once  understand  the  value  and 
far-reaching  effects  of  the  new  order  of  things? 
Then,  too,  these  liberal  provisions  were  made 
somewhat  in  advance  of  the  times.  The  pioneer 
must  first  redeem  the  land  from  the  wilderness, 
fight  the  physical  battles  and  endure  the  hard- 
ships of  a  new  country.  As  soon  as  these 
primitive  conditions  passed  away,  the  farmers 
made  an  effort  to  bring  their  profession  up  to 
a  high  intellectual  plane  and  make  it  a  delight- 
ful and  honorable  calling.  The  evolution  from 
the  primitive  to  the  complex,  from  the  age  of 
toil  to  the  age  of  thought,  from  excessive  mus- 
cular effort  to  a  more  intelligent  direction  of 
energy,  from  the  narrow  and  prejudiced  to  the 
broad  and  liberal,  from  the  coarse  and  ugly  to 
the  refined  and  beautiful,  is  proceeding  rapidly, 
and  is  in  part  realized.  What  happier  task  than 
to    give  direction    and  help,  sympathy    and  en- 


The    True  and   the   Beautiful  19 

couragement  to  these  new-born  .desires  !  The 
part  which  the  youths  on  the  farm  are  taking  in 
this  evolution  leads  naturally  to  a  higher  intel- 
lectual plane,  and  hence  to  a  more  rational 
understanding  and  fuller  comprehension  of  what 
the  rural  home  should  be.  This  desire  to 
gratify  the  love  for  the  true  and  beautiful,  which 
has  been  growing  up  by  reason  of  the  better 
education,  leads  directly  to  the  securing  of  an 
income  sufficiently  large  to  gratify  the  more  re- 
fined and  newly  acquired  tastes. 

Taking  the  rural  population  as  we  find  it, 
with  added  wants  and  new  aspirations,  and  with 
a  somewhat  better  understanding  of  the  value  of 
a  more  extended  culture,  it  will  be  seen  that  a 
more  rational  system  of  agriculture,  a  more 
economic  expenditure  of  energy,  and  a  clearer 
comprehension  of  the  highest  and  most  economi- 
cal use  of  money  must  be  secured  if  the  objects 
sought  are  attained.  To  secure  the  results  de- 
sired, it  must  be  shown  how  a  competence  can 
be  secured  without  excessive  toil,  how  the 
results  of  work  may  be  put  to  the  best  uses, 
and  lastly,  but  not  least,  it  must  be  shown  what 
is  really  valuable,  what  real,  what  substantial, 
what  polite,  what  beautiful,  what  worthy  of  in- 
telligent Americans.  On  the  other  hand,  vulgar 
display  must  be  shown  to  be  vulgar,  shoddy 
must  be  unmasked,  the  effect  of    aping  the  un- 


20  The   Farmstead 

cultured  rich  set  forth,  and  that  which  is  unreal 
and  that  which  goes  for  naught  but  vanity  dis- 
played under  their  true  colors, — that  comparisons 
may  be  made,  and  that  truer  conceptions  of 
life,  its  duties  and  obligations,  may  be  secured. 

How  may  a  competence  be  obtained  ?  Briefly, 
by  securing  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  which 
govern  the  business  or  undertaking  entered  into, 
and  by  conducting  the  business  or  undertaking 
in  obedience  to  the  modes  of  action  or  laws 
which  apply  to  the  specific  case  in  hand.  What 
are  some  of  the  dominant  laws  which  should 
govern  the  farmer  and  farm  practices  ?  The 
farmer  should  specialize  along  those  lines  for 
which  his  taste  and  training,  in  part  at  least,  fit 
him.  To  be  more  specific  :  A  farmer  will  show 
you  his  potato  patch  with  pride,  but  not  a  word 
will  be  said  about  his  work  animals  and  their 
offspring,  which  look  like  Barnum's  woolly  horse. 
Then  the  first  principle  of  agriculture  is,  follow 
up  successes.  In  this  case,  the  man  has  land 
and  skill  in  potato  culture  which  should  lead 
him  directly  to  success.  Why  not  each  year  in- 
crease the  output  of  potatoes,  and  let  some 
horseman  breed  the  horses  ?  I  have  no  ear  or 
taste  for  music  ;  why  should  I  spend  time  in 
thrumming  a  piano  and  in  making  the  life  of 
my  neighbors  miserable  ?  I  love  a  bird  and  am 
interested  in  all  its  ways,  its  beauty  and  its  life. 


Specialization  21 

Why  not  study  the  birds,  and  let  them  make 
the  music  ? 

Much  of  life's  energy  is  spent  in  trying  to 
adjust  square  pegs  to  round  holes  and  round 
pegs  to  square  holes,  and  life  may  be  spent  be- 
fore the  adjustment  is  complete.  Modern  civil- 
ization tends  to  specialization.  Men  vary  as 
widely  as  do  the  stars.  There  is  a  place  for 
everyone  and  some  one  to  fi]l  the  place,  if  this 
great  mass  of  unlike  units  can  only  be  sorted  and 
fitted  into  the  complex  problem  of  civilization. 

The  first  question,  and  the  question  which 
should  be  repeated  often  is,  What  am  I  good  for; 
what  branch  or  branches  of  agriculture  will  give 
me  the  greatest  pleasure  and  profit?  Having 
answered  this  question,  pursue  the  work  through 
all  discouragements  to  a  successful  issue.  It 
is  possible  you  have  no  capacity  for  farm  life, 
and,  since  you  cannot  buy  a  capacity,  better  go 
directly  to  town  and  there  fit  yourself  into  your 
environment.  I  have  known  men  to  toil  many 
years  on  a  farm,  and  near  the  close  of  life  to 
be  driven  to  town  by  the  sheriff.  There  they 
made  not  only  a  living,  but  secured  a  modest 
competence  in  conducting  some  little  one-horse 
business,  the  profits  or  losses  of  which  could  be 
counted  up  every  night.  The  farm,  with  all  its 
complexities,  with  its  profits  and  losses  a  year 
or  five   years    in  the  future,  was   too    large    and 


22  The    Farmstead 

far-reaching  for  their  narrow  understandings. 
All  are  not  so  fortunate.  Some  remind  us  of 
the  Quaker's  dog  which  he  sold  to  his  friend 
and  recommended  as  a  good  coon  dog.  The 
dog  proved  to  be  a  failure  and  was  returned  to 
the  seller,  who  said,  "  I  am  much  surprised. 
Thee  believes  that  nothing  was  created  in  vain, 
does  thee  not,  Ephraim?"  "Most  certainly  I 
believe  that  the  Creator  made  all  things  for 
some  beneficent  purpose."  "  I,  too,  believe  this, 
and  I  had  tried  that  dog  for  everything  else 
under  the  heavens  but  coons,  so  I  was  certain 
he  must  be  a  good  coon  dog." 

A  competency  is  always  in  sight  in  this 
country  for  those  who  do  well  those  things 
which  are  suited  to  their  tastes  and  training.  A 
competence  may  be  secured  by  following  those 
branches  of  farming  which  require  the  minimum 
of  labor  and  the  maximum  of  skill  and  train- 
ing. My  friend  of  Westfield,  Mr.  Gr.  Schoenfeld, 
from  Germany,  has  six  acres  of  land,  a  part  of 
which  is  covered  with  glass.  He  did  that  ter- 
rible thing, — ran  in  debt  for  the  full  purchase 
price  of  the  land.  It  and  the  valuable  improve- 
ments upon  it  are  now  paid  for.  His  modest 
home  is  valued  at  $6,000.  While  paying  for  it 
a  large  family  has  been  raised  and  educated,  the 
eldest  boy  entering  Annapolis  Naval  Academy 
with  a  high  standing.     It   is  possible   that   this 


Follow   up   Success  23 

son  will  one  day  be  acknowledged  as  the  intel- 
lectual and  social  equal  of  the  aristocracy  of 
Germany  should  he  ever  visit  the  fatherland  of 
his  parents.  But  why  this  long  account  of  a 
not  infrequent  occurrence  ?  To  show  how  it  was 
done :  This  German,  though  untrained,  suc- 
ceeded from  the  first  in  producing  superior 
carnations.  He  followed  up  his  successes,  and 
sold  the  product  of  brains  instead  of  the  fertility 
of  his  little  farm.  Mr.  Schoenfeld  sold  in  Buf- 
falo during  one  year  — October  1,  1896,  to  Sep- 
tember 30,  1897  —  carnations  (80,946  flowers) 
for  the  net  sum,  over  commissions,  of  $719.08. 
The  amount  of  plant -food  removed  by  the  80,946 
carnations  was  as  follows  : 

Nitrogen  Phosphoric  acid  Potash 

5  lbs.  4  ozs.      2  lbs.  3  ozs.      10  lbs.  8  ozs.     (valued  at  $1.32) 

The  table  below  shows  the  amount  of  plant- 
food  removed  by  856  bushels  of  wheat,  being 
the  amount  which,  at  84  cents  per  bushel  (the 
average  price  of  wheat  for  the  last  ten  years 
in  central  New  York),  would  bring  $719.08,  the 
amount  received  for  the  carnations. 

Nitrogen  Phosphoric  acid  Potash 

904  lbs.  437  lbs.  298  lbs.  (valued  at  $158.34) 

In  addition,  20,000  flowers  used  in  making 
flower  displays  for  weddings,  and  the  like,  were 


24  The   Farmstead 

sold  at  retail,  by  the  dozen,  for  $450.80.  The 
net  returns  for  flowers  sold  during  the  fiscal 
year  ending  September  30,  1897,  amounted  to 
$1,169.88.  The  expenses,  including  taxes,  insur- 
ance and  10  per  cent  on  the  capital,  were 
$790.67.  This  includes  the  cost  of  raising 
12,000  plants,  about  6,000  of  which  netted 
$263.24.  In  round  numbers,  then,  the  net  in- 
come from  the  one  leading  industry  — flowers  — 
after  paying  10  per  cent  on  invested  capital, 
coal,  commission  and  workmen's  bills,  was 
$642.45,  with  an  additional  prospective  income 
from  the  6,000  plants  which  remained  unsold. 

When  I  last  visited  this  gentleman,  he  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  all  the  land  he  wanted. 
Since  that  time  he  has  purchased  eight  acres 
adjoining,  has  made  some  improvements  upon 
the  land,  and  now  values  it  at  $2,000.  He 
stated  incidentally  that  the  reason  he  made  his 
purchase  was  that  the  land  was  in  the  market, 
and  he  wanted  control  of  it  that  he  might 
choose  his  neighbor.  The  land,  he  says,  is  now 
in  the  market,  although  it  paid  9  per  cent,  clear 
of  all  expenses,  on  a  valuation  of  $2,000.  The 
question  is  often  discussed  as  to  how  much  land 
is  necessary  to  secure  a  competence.  Here  we 
find  that  six  acres  suffices.  A  large  family  has 
been  fed  chiefly  from  the  products  of  the  or- 
chards, vineyard   and   garden,  and   the   children 


Learn   Difficult    Things  25 

are  receiving  a  practical  and,  in  some  cases, 
a  liberal  education.  All  this  has  been  accom- 
plished because  the  man  quickly  learned  the 
value  of  scientific  agriculture  and  was  wise 
enough  to  follow  up  his  successes. 

Not  only  follow  up  success,  but  learn  to  do 
the  difficult  things  ;  there  will  always  be  a 
throng  seeking  to  do  the  easy  things,— things 
which  require  the  maximum  of  muscle  and  the 
minimum  of*  brains.  Why  do  such  multitudes 
seek  this  hard,  easy  work!  Because  they  will 
not  consent  to  endure  the  toil,  shall  I  say,  of 
acquiring  the  power  to  think  deeply,  accurately 
and  effectively.  Some  of  our  sympathy  is 
thrown  away  upon  these  muscular  workers. 
Their  desires  are  few,  their  wants  simple,  their 
appetites  good,  and  their  sleep  peaceful.  Let  us 
show  them  the  way  to  a  higher  life,  open  the 
doors  to  those  who  choose  to  enter,  and  fret  not 
because  all  will  not  enter  in. 

"  Some  are  and  must  be  greater  than  the  rest, 
More  rich,  more  wise  ;  but  who  infers  from  hence 
That  such  are  happier,  shocks  all  common  sense." 

The  man  who  fells  the  trees  in  the  woods 
may  receive  15  cents  per  hour ;  the  man  who 
controls  the  carriage  of  the  great  sawmill  and 
decides  on  the  instant  what  shape  and  dimen- 
sions the  lumber  shall  take  may  receive  25  cents 


26  The   Farmstead 

per  hour  for  simply  moving  a  little  lever ;  a 
third  man  causes  a  piece  of  the  wood  to  take 
on  the  forms  of  beauty  for  the  great  staircase, 
and  may  receive  50  cents  per  hour  ;  the  fourth 
furnishes  the  design  for  this  beautiful  staircase, 
and  may  receive  $1  an  hour.  The  man  who 
does  the  so-called  "hard"  work  receives  the 
least  pay.  Why?  Because  it  is  the  least  diffi- 
cult. This  difference  of  remuneration  holds 
good  on  the  farm.  Mushrooms  sell  for  50  cents 
per  pound  ;  maize  for  one-half  cent  per  pound. 
Why?  Because  anybody,  even  a  squaw,  can 
raise  maize,  but  only  a  specially  skilled  gar- 
dener can  succeed  in  mushroom  culture.  Hot- 
house lambs  bring  from  $6  to  $10  when  two 
months  old  ;  a  poorly  bred  sheep  at  two  years 
of  age  may  bring  from  $2  to  $4.  Why?  The 
breeding  and  feeding  of  the  one  is  easy  ;  of  the 
other  difficult. 

In  1897  the  raising  of  potatoes  was  difficult. 
The  blights,  the  bugs  and  the  beetles  were  pres- 
ent in  full  force.  Good  potatoes  in  the  middle 
and  eastern  states  rose  to  65  cents  per  bushel 
wholesale.  The  man  who  watched  and  fought 
intelligently  secured  300  bushels  per  acre  and  a 
ready  market ;  the  careless  man  and  the  man 
who  should  have  been  raising  horses  or  chickens 
secured  30  bushels  per  acre  and  a  slow  market. 
Why  ?      Because    unusual    difficulties  were   pres- 


Profitable    Crops  27 

ent,  and  the  man  who  was  able  to  cope  with 
them  drew  the  prize  of  $195  per  acre  for  his 
potatoes.  This  successful  potato  raiser  the  pre- 
vious year  secured  more  than  300  bushels  per 
acre,  and  sold  them  for  25  cents  per  bushel, 
but  even  at  this  low  price  they  brought  more 
than  $75  per  acre.  If  from  200  to  300  per  cent 
profit  can  be  secured  and  the  limit  of  profit  not 
reached  by  raising  one  of  the  most  common 
products  of  the  farm,  what  possibilities  loom  up 
for  securing  a  competence  from  those  products 
which  require  greater  skill  and  knowledge  than 
the  raising  of  potatoes? 

Consider  the  crops  which  are  supposed  to 
give  promise  of  securing  little  or  no  profits  at 
the  present  low  prices,  as  wheat,  maize,  hay  and 
oats.  One  man,  on  land  naturally  below  the 
average,  has  secured  during  the  last  fifteen  years 
an  average  of  nearly  35  bushels  of  wheat,  and 
in  a  few  cases  40  bushels  per  acre.  The  average 
yield  for  the  whole  United  States  in  1889  was  a 
shade  less  than  14  bushels  per  acre.  During  the 
same  year  the  average  yield  of  oats  was  28.57 
bushels  per  acre,  and  hay,  including  such  other 
crops  as  are  used  for  forage,  averaged  1.26  tons 
per  acre.  Good  ^farmers  secure  40  to  50  bushels 
of  oats,  and  2  to  2%  tons  of  hay,  and  in  propi- 
tious years  50  to  60  bushels  of  oats  and  3  tons 
of  hay  per  acre.    (Compare  Figs.  1  and  2.)    These 


28 


The   Farmstead 


latter  yields  always  show  large  profits  and  lead 
to  a  competency,  while  the  average  yield  usually 
gives  no  profit.  If  the  average  yield  gives  only 
a  bare  subsistence,  what  must  be  the  condition 
of  those  who  secure  much  less  than  the  average  ? 
If    one    man    raises    35   bushels    of    wheat,  five 


Fig.  1.    Thirty-five-bushel  wheat  field  (Cornell  University). 

other  men  must  each  raise  10  bushels  to  secure 
an  average  yield  of  14  bushels  per  acre.  Some 
entire  states  —  as,  for  instance,  Mississippi,  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee, — have  an  average  of 
6,  6  and  9  bushels,  respectively,  per  acre.  What 
is  the  remedy?  Stop  raising  wheat,  and  raise 
something  better  adapted  to  soil  and  climate,  or 


Supply   and   Demand  29 

go  to  town  and  sell  peanuts.  Some  of  these  men 
who  utterly  fail  to  comprehend  the  laws  of  wheat 
culture  may  be  good  "coon  dogs,"  after  all. 

It  will  be  said  that  if    the   yield  per  acre  be 
doubled,  the  market  will  be  so  flooded  that  no  one 


Eight-bushel  wheat  field,  on  a  farm  adjoining  that  shown  in  Fig.  1. 


will  receive  profits.  This  is  the  old  scarecrow. 
No  farmer  can  control  the  prices  of  his  product. 
The  law  of  supply  and  demand  is  inexorable 
What  he  may  do  is  to  improve  quality,  dimin- 
ish cost,  reduce  area,  find  the  best  market 
and  the  products   most  sought,  and  increase  the 


30  The  Farmstead 

production  from  a  given  area.  If  he  raises  the 
yield  from  20  to  35  bushels,  while  the  yield  of 
his  neighbor  remains  at  10  bushels  and  prices 
remain  low,  we  shall  soon  see  a  fine  illustration 
of  "the  survival  of  the  fittest."  The  35  bushels 
will  yield  a  fair  remuneration  for  the  work 
expended  in  production  when  prices  are  at  the 
lowest.  When  they  are  high  the  profits  are  200 
to  300  per  cent.  Wheat-,  for  the  last  ten  years, 
has  averaged  84  cents  per  bushel  in  June  in 
central  New  York.  Allow  $3  for  the  straw  of 
the  lower  yield,  and  if  the  wheat  was  sold  at 
the  average  price,  the  total  income  per  acre 
would  be  $11.40.  For  the  straw  of  the  larger 
yield  allow  $6,  which,  added  to  the  wheat  at  the 
average  price,  would  give  a  gross  income  per 
acre  of  $35.40. 

The  cost  of  raising  and  marketing  an  acre  of 
wheat,  including  $5  for  rental  of  land  and  $2 
for  fertilizers,  may  be  set  down  at  from  $15  to 
$20  in  New  York.  If  the  most  successful  com- 
pels the  less  successful  farmer  to  stop  raising 
wheat  at  a  loss,  what  will  the  latter  do  with  his 
land  ?  Better  give  it  away  than  lose  by  farming 
it.  Better  abandon  the  farm  and  go  to  town  and 
set  up  a  second-hand  clothing  store.  There  is 
always  at  least  a  small  profit  in  that  business. 

In  central  New  York  a  large  herd  of  dairy 
cows  was   tested,    and    the    owner   of    the    herd 


Abandon   Unprofitable   Land  31 

was  informed  that  about  one-fourth  of  his  cows 
were  quite  profitable,  one-half  paid  their  board 
bill  and  a  little  more,  and  one-fourth  were  kept 
at  a  considerable  loss.  He  was  advised  to  dis- 
pose of  the  unprofitable  cows.  His  answer  was, 
"But  what  will  I  do  for  cows?" 

Then,  to  secure  a  competence,  the  crops  and 
the  land  which  uniformly  produce  loss  must  be 
abandoned.  How  it  worries  the  city  penny-a- 
liner  and  how  it  rejoices  the  successful  farmer  to 
see  land  thrown  out  of  cultivation  — "abandoned." 
To  me  nothing  is  so  encouraging  in  agriculture 
as  this  lately  acquired  knowledge  which  reveals 
the  fact  that  vast  areas  have  been  cleared  and 
brought  under  cultivation  which  should  have 
been  left  undisturbed,  except  to  harvest  the  ma- 
ture trees  and  protect  the  young  plants  from 
ravages  of  fire  and  cattle.  As  the  blackberry 
bushes,  year  by  year,  creep  down  the  steep 
hillsides  and  over  the  rock -covered  fields,  one 
rejoices  at  the  pioneer  work  these  modest, 
hardy,  tap -rooted  plants  are  accomplishing. 
How  wisely  and  well  they  fit  the  soil  for  a 
higher  and  more  noble  class  of  plants,  and  how 
surely  in  time  they  cover  the  shame  and  naked- 
ness of  mother  earth ! 

The  rural  population  has  made  many  serious 
mistakes,  toiling  to  reclaim  land  which  was  not 
worth   reclaiming,  not    worthy  of    an   intelligent 


32  The   Farmstead 

farmer.  But  how  could  they  know  better?  Not 
one  college  of  forestry  in  all  this  great  land 
up  to  1898,  and  as  yet  but  one  in  its  infancy ! 
Until  the  last  generation  not  a  single  school  of 
agriculture,  scarcely  a  book  obtainable  which 
might  give  direct  help  to  the  rural  American 
boy  and  girl !  Therefore,  the  farmer  should  not 
be  blamed  for  the  wasteful  and  unscientific 
treatment  of  forest  and  field.  All  this  leads  to 
the  conclusion  that  to  secure  a  competence, 
lands  of  high  and  varied  agricultural  capabili- 
ties, lands  worthy  of  an  intelligent  American, 
should  be  selected  upon  which  to  build  and 
maintain   rural  homes. 

Quantity  of  farm  products  we  have  in  abun- 
dance ;  better  quality  is  what  is  wanted,  since 
quality  may  improve  prices  and  widen  markets. 
To  assist  in  securing  a  competence  some  spe- 
cialization is  advisable.  Sometimes  this  has 
been  carried  so  far  as  to  work  serious  disaster. 
Many  farms  in  western  New  York  have  been 
almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  raising  of 
grapes,  which,  when  abundant  or  moderately  so, 
sold  at  ruinous  prices.  It  is  noticed  that  where 
only  an  eighth  or  a  fourth  of  the  farm  was 
devoted  to  vines,  the  yield  was  not  only  pro- 
portionately larger  but  the  quality  better  than 
where  nearly  all  the  land  was  used  as  a  vine-^ 
yard.      Wherever  diversified  agriculture  was  car- 


Diversified   and   Specialized   Farming  33 

ried  on  to  a  limited  extent  and  plantations  were 
restricted,  the  low  price  of  grapes  made  no  seri- 
ous inroads  on  the  income.  Where  all  the  land 
was  given  up  to  grapes,  work  was  intermittent, 
the  farmer  being  overtasked  at  one  season  of 
the  year  and  idle  at  another.  The  demoralizing 
effect  on  the  farmers  and  their  families  of  this 
army  of  unrestrained  youths  and  loungers  of 
the  city,  which,  for  a  brief  period,  swarms  in 
the  districts  ^devoted  to  specialized  crops,  as 
grapes,   berries    and    hops,    is    marked. 

The  baleful  result  of  raising  a  single  or  few 
products  in  extended  districts  may  be  seen  in 
California  and  the  great  wheat  districts  of  the 
northwest.  In  such  localities  there  is  little  or  no 
true  home  life,  with  its  duties  and  restraints  ; 
men  and  boys  are  herded  together  like  cattle, 
sleep  where  they  may,  and  subsist  as  best  they 
can.  The  work  is  hard,  and  from  sun  to  sun  for 
two  or  three  months,  when  it  abruptly  ceases, 
and  the  workmen  are  left  to  find  employment  as 
best  they  may,  or  adopt  the  life  and  habits  of 
the  professional  tramp.  It  is  difficult  to  name 
anything  more  demoralizing  to  men,  and  espe- 
cially to  boys,  than  intermittent  labor ;  and  the 
higher  the  wages  paid  and  the  shorter  the  period 
of  service,  the  more  demoralizing  the  effect.  If 
there  were  no  other  reason  for  practicing  a  some- 
what  diversified   agriculture,  the   welfare   of  the 


34  The   Farmstead 

workman  and  his  family  should  form  a  suffi- 
cient one.  Happily,  many  large  and  demoral- 
izing wheat  ranches  are  being  divided  into  small 
farms,  upon  which  are  being  reared  the  roof- 
tree,  children,  fruits   and  flowers. 

To  secure  a  competence,  no  more  activities 
should  be  entered  into  than  can  be  prosecuted 
with  vigor  and  at  a  profit.  On  the  other  hand, 
too  few  activities  tend  to  stagnation  and  degenera- 
tion. Mental  power,  like  many  other  things, 
increases  with  legitimate  use  and  diminishes  with 
disuse.  The  farmer  who  simply  raises  and  sells 
maize  is  often  poor  in  pocket  and  deficient  in 
understanding.  The  college  graduate  who  at- 
tempts but  a  few  easy  things  seldom  becomes  a 
ripe  scholar. 

To  secure  a  competence,  the  petty  outgoes 
should  be  met  by  weekly  receipts  from  petty 
products.  I  have  known  so  many  farmers  to 
succeed  by  specializing  moderately  along  one  or 
two  lines,  while  holding  on  to  diversified  agricul- 
ture, in  part  at  least,  that  I  am  tempted  to  give 
a  single  illustration  as  a  sample  of  thousands 
which  have  come  under  my  notice. 

A  Scotchman  and  his  family  of  four  little 
children  landed  in  northern  Indiana  with  three 
to  four  hundred  dollars  ;  to  this  was  added  as 
much  more  by  day  labor.  A  farm  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  was  purchased,  one  hun- 


The    Shrewd    Scotchman  35 

dred  acres  of  which  were  adapted  to  wheat,  corn 
and  clover.  Thirty  acres  were  marshy  pasture 
land ;  the  balance,  timber.  Wheat  was  selected 
as  the  great  income  crop,  which  was  supple- 
mented by  the  sale  of  one  to  three  horses 
yearly.  The  butter  from  a  dozen  cows,  the 
chickens,  ducks,  and  their  eggs,  were  taken  to 
the  city  once  each  week.  The  result  was  that 
at  the  end  of  the  year  there  were  no  debts  of 
subsistence  to  be  paid.  This  left  all  the  money 
received  for  the  wheat  and  horses  to  be  applied 
towards  liquidating  the  mortgage.  In  a  few 
years  a  large,  comfortable  house  was  built.  This 
was  followed  by  the  purchase  of  another  farm, 
and  still  another,  until  each  child  was  provided 
with  a  home  and  facilities  for  securing  a  mod- 
est income.  This  shrewd  Scotchman  succeeded 
because  he  neglected  neither  little  nor  great 
things. 

With  what  pride  the  writer,  in  1863,  deposited 
$1,700  in  bank,  the  product  of  a  single  wool 
crop !  —  and  the  little  farm  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  was  not  all  devoted  to  wool -raising. 
If  a  young  man  can  secure  a  loving,  helpful 
wife,  four  good  cows  and  enough  land  to  pro- 
duce feed  for  them,  with  room  left  for  an  ample 
garden,  a  berry  patch  and  a  small  orchard,  he 
may  consider  himself  rich,  and  if  he  be  able 
and  intelligent  he  will  soon  have  a  competence. 


36  The    Farmstead 

The  farmer,  of  necessity,  goes  to  the  city  or 
village  once  each  week  for  supplies  which  cannot 
well  be  produced  on  the  farm.  He  should  re- 
turn, if  possible,  with  more  money  than  he  had 
when  he  left  home.  It  is  not  the  big  mortgage 
which  was  given  for  part  of  the  purchase  price 
of  the  farm  which  should  make  him  unhappy, 
but  the  steadily  increasing  little  charges  accumu- 
lating on  the  tradesmen's  ledgers  until  this 
"  honest  "■  farmer  dreads  to  meet  a  score  of  his 
town  acquaintances. 

The  farmer  who,  from  his  well-painted  cov- 
ered democrat  wagon,  sells  the  product  of  his 
skill  and  labor  looks  to  me  quite  as  dignified  as 
does  the  merchant  who  sells  nails  and  codfish, 
turpentine  and  bobbins,  patent  medicines  and 
jews '-harps,  none  of  which  represents  his  own 
skill  or  labor. 

Farming  will  never  be  carried  on  in  America 
by  trusts  or  syndicates.  A  combine  can  run 
fifty  nail  factories  or  breweries,  but  not  fifty 
farms,  at  a  profit,  because  farming  is  too  diffi- 
cult, requires  too  close  supervision  and  frequent 
change  of  details  and  combinations,  and  new 
plans  to  meet  the  ever-changing  conditions  of 
climate  and  soil.  The  conditions  which  sur- 
round agriculture  in  America  put  a  quietus  for- 
ever on  "bonanza  farming,"  and  tend  to  the 
rearing  of  ideal  homes  and  the  accumulation  of 


Humus   and   Phosphoric   Acid  37 

modest  incomes.  Mining -farming  on  virgin,  fer- 
tile, unobstructed  areas  can  be  successfully 
prosecuted  only  for  a  time. 

"The  Red  river  valley  native  soils  contain 
from  .35  to  .40  of  nitrogen,  while  the  soils 
which  have  been  under  cultivation  ( in  wheat ) 
for  twelve  to  fifteen  years  contain  from  .2  to 
.3  of  a  per  cent."*  Another  important  point: 
When  humus  is  taken  out  of  the  native  soil 
as  above,  only  .02  of  a  per  cent  of  the  phos- 
phoric acid  is  soluble  by  ordinary  chemical 
methods,  while  in  the  native  soil  three  or  four 
times  as  much  phosphoric  acid  is  soluble  and  is 
associated  with  the  humus  Allowing  that  an 
acre  of  soil  one  foot  deep  weighs  1,800  tons, 
the  native  soil  would  contain  from  12,600  to 
14,400  pounds  of  nitrogen  per  acre,  while  the 
cultivated  soil  would  contain  from  7,200  to 
10,800  pounds  per  acre.  If  the  average  amount 
of  nitrogen  in  native  soils  ( 13,500  pounds  per 
acre),  and  the  average  in  the  soil  after  it  had 
been  cropped  twelve  to  fifteen  years  (9,000 
pounds  per  acre),  are  compared,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  soil  has  lost  4,500  pounds  of 
nitrogen  per  acre,  or  more  than  one -third  (prob- 
ably one-half)  of  the  nitrogen  which  could  well 
be  made  available,  and  this  in  less  than  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century. 

*Henry  Snyder,  Bulls.  30,  44,  Minn.  Exp.  Sta.  See  "  Fertility  of  the  Land,"  p.  256. 


38  The   Farmstead 

Fifteen  crops  of  wheat  of  25  bushels  per 
acre  require  433  pounds  of  nitrogen,  or  one- 
tenth  of  the  amount  which  the  soil  lost  during 
the  years  of  cropping.  This  soil,  under  "bo- 
nanza farming,"  has  lost  outright  nitrogen  suffi- 
cient for  155  crops,  each  requiring  as  much 
nitrogen  as  does  a  crop  of  25  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre.  When  the  amount  wasted  on 
a  single  acre  is  multiplied  by  the  acres  of  the 
vast,  fertile  wheat  plains  of  the  west,  where 
"bonanza  farming"  is  carried  on,  the  loss  of 
nitrogen  to  our  country  is  seen  to  be  so  great 
as  to  appal  the  thoughtful  man  who  looks  for- 
ward to  the  generations  who  will  want  this 
element  in  the  not  distant  future.  H'appily, 
this  "bonanza  farming"  has  its  own  cure. 
When  mining -farming  reduces  the  yield  so  that 
profits  vanish,  then  these  great  farms  will  be 
cut  up  into  modest- sized  ones,  true  homes  will 
rise,  intermittent  labor  and  the  tramp  harvest- 
hand  will  disappear,  and  the  last  and  only  con- 
dition which  tends  to  produce  an  uninstructed 
peasant  class  will  cease  to  exist. 

The  other  great  "  bonanza "  industry  which 
still  remains  and  which  affects  agriculture,  and 
the  land  directly,  is  lumbering.  This,  like  "  bo- 
nanza" wheat  farming,  may  be  classed  as  a  min- 
ing industry,  carried  on  at  the  surface  instead 
of  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.     Without  rational 


Waste    of  Nitrogen  39 

direction,  restraint  or  control,  this  agricultural 
mining  goes  on  until  the  sources  from  which 
the  profits  are  drawn  are  so  depleted  as  to 
be  no  longer  profitable.  There  is  no  home  or 
competency  for  the  farm  boys  in  the  lumber 
camp  or  on  the  great  wheat  farm.  Here  the 
rule  is  to  take  all  and  return  nothing.  After 
the  ax  and  the  binder,  comes  the  fire  to  com- 
plete the  wanton  destruction.  The  shade -giving 
and  moisture -conserving  brush,  stubble  and 
Btraw,  and  all  living  plants,  are  destroyed,  and 
nothing  but  the  mineral  matter,  unmixed  with 
surface  humus,  remains.  A  blackened  .waste, 
devoid  of  animal  or  vegetable  life,  is  left  be- 
hind. No  homes  can  be  reared  here,  no  com- 
petence secured  until  nature,  assisted  by  man 
in  the  coming  years,  slowly  restores  the  cover- 
ing and  productivity  of  the  soil.  This  unwise 
treatment  of  the  land  must  soon  come  to  an 
end  ;  then  the  hardy  home -builder  will  have  op- 
portunity to  repair,  by  more  rational  methods, 
some   of  the   wanton   and  unnecessary  waste. 

Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  before  the  close 
of  another  decade  every  state  and  territory  will 
have  a  school  of  forestry,  and  that  all  national 
forest  domains  will  have  been  brought  under 
rational  supervision  and  control?  The  future 
home -builders  will  need  them,  and  the  present 
owners    of   homes    have    a   right   to    a    share    of 


40  The   Farmstead 

the  benefits  which  flow  from  intelligently  man- 
aged forest  preserves.  It  is  not  enough  to 
show  that  intelligent  farming  is  highly  remu- 
nerative at  the  present  time ;  provision  must 
be  made  by  which  the  children  and  the  chil- 
dren's children,  for  all  generations,  may  have 
opportunity  for  securing  a  competence  from 
rural    pursuits. 

Can  a  competence  and  a  comfortable  home 
be  secured  by  the  renter?  If  not,  why  not? 
Shall  the  farmer  put  his  little  capital  into  a 
home  and  run  in  debt  for  supplies  and  neces- 
sary equipment ;  or  had  he  better  rent,  and 
start  even?  This  depends  to  a  large  extent 
upon  the  individual.  A  successful  country  life 
does  not  depend  upon  owning  the  land  in  fee 
simple.  Here  is  a  picture  of  what  may  be 
called  "a  country  gentleman"  (Fig.  3).  He, 
his  father  and  his  grandfather,  all  have  been 
renters  of  the  same  farm.  He  has  a  com- 
petence and  an  assured  income.  This  hue  and 
cry  about  renting  has  no  terrors  for  those  who 
have  been  renters  and  have  found  that  this  is 
often  the  most  satisfactory  way  to  start  when 
capital  is  limited.  The  merchant  of  limited 
means  invariably  rents  the  building  in  which 
he  does  business,  because  it  is  safer  and  usu- 
ally more  economical  to  rent  than  to  purchase 
the  business  block. 


Renting   vs.    Ownership 


41 


In  an  old  city  of  12,000  inhabitants,  it  was 
found  that  84  per  cent  of  the  business  was  car- 
ried on  in  rented  rooms.  The  trouble  in  rent- 
ing farms  in   the   United    States    lies    chiefly  in 


Fig.  3.    A  farmer  and  a  renter. 


the  fact  that  there  are  no  well  digested  laws 
or  old  customs  which  help  to  guide  the  renter 
and  rentee.  A  few  simple  laws  would  provide  for 
adjusting  the  value  of  betterments  removed  from 


42  The   Farmstead 

or  put  upon  the  farm  at  any  time.  Long  leases, 
with  inducements  to  long  occupancy,  would  give 
the  rentee  a  permanent  occupier.  The  renter 
has  quite  as  good  a  chance  of  finally  securing 
a  home  in  fee  simple  as  has  the  man  who  pur- 
chases and  mortgages  heavily.  The  possession 
of  a  valuable  farm  and  an  assured  income,  es- 
pecially in  a  new  country,  is  often  most  surely 
and  easily  secured  by  renting  for  a  series  of 
years.  Good  farming  pays  liberal  profits  even 
on  rented  land.  If  there  is  failure,  it  is  the 
man  and  not  the  occupation  which  causes  it. 
The  fault  will  not  be  "in  the  moon,"  but  in 
ourselves  if  we  fail  or  become  underlings. 


CHAPTER   III 
EDUCATIONAL    OPPORTUNITY   ON   THE   FARM 

More  and  more  we  are  coming  to  believe 
that  the  rural  district  schools  offer  bnt  few  op- 
portunities for  educating  the  farmers'  children. 
Various  schemes  have  been  recommended  for 
providing  better  and  more  convenient  educa- 
tional facilities.  One  proposition  is  first  to 
improve  the  principal  highways.  This,  it  is 
thought,  will  make  it  possible  to  run  'buses  or 
carriages  twice  daily  to  transport  the  children  to 
and  from  some  centrally  located  graded  school. 
Such  schemes  are  usually  proposed  by  some  one 
who  has  seldom  seen  a  country  school -house  and 
who  is  totally  unacquainted  with  the  conditions 
which  prevail  in  rural  communities. 

Admitting,  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  that 
teacher  and  pupil  in  the  country  are  not  so  far 
advanced  in  book -lore  as  they  are  in  the  city, 
how  does  it  happen  that  the  country  youths  are 
able  to  maintain  themselves  on  an  educational 
level  with ,  the  pupils  of  the  graded  schools  when 
they  meet  them  in  the  academy  and  college  ?  Is 
it  not  quite  possible  that  the    wide  opportunities 

(43) 


44  The   Farmstead 

enjoyed  by  the  country  youth  for  becoming 
acquainted  with  natural  objects  of  use  and 
beauty  are  a  full  offset,  so  far  as  training  is  con- 
cerned, for  the  more  systematic  instruction  given 
in  the  city  schools  ? 

I  can  but  look  with  some  degree  of  solicitude 
on  the  effect  on  civilization  and  on  the  home,  of 
palatial  hotels,  and  great  school  buildings,  filled 
with  heterogeneous  masses  of  children,  in  which 
love,  solicitude  and  sacrifices,  each  for  all,  have 
little  opportunity  for  growth  and  development. 
The  family  seems  to  be  the  sacred  unit  of  civili- 
zation and  morality.  A  full  and  sufficient  rea- 
son must  be  given  for  massing  men,  much  more 
children,  in  a  single  great  structure,  thereby 
destroying  the  quiet  and  breaking  the  sacred 
ties  of  the  home.  What  good  reasons  can  be 
offered  for  massing  children  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  twelve  in  an  uncomfortable  school- 
room ?  Children  do  not  study  ;  they  learn  little 
except  when  they  read  the  lesson  in  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  the  teacher  who  is  able  to 
amplify  and  explain  the  lesson  in  hand.  Send- 
ing these  little  ones  to  school  is  a  relic  of  the 
primeval  days,  when,  by  reason  of  large  families, 
lack  of  training  and  excessive  toil  of  the 
parents,  there  was  no  other  way  but  to  make 
nursery  maids  of  the  school-teachers. 

I    have    a    vivid    recollection    of    those    early 


Educational    Opportunity    on    the   Farm  45 

days  when  I  was  crowded  into  a  16  x  20  school- 
house,  with  two  score  other  bounding,  mischiev- 
ous urchins,  all  seated  on  the  hard  side  of  un- 
backed, long-legged  slab  benches,  which  left  our 
bare  legs,  for  which  the  flies  had  a  liking,  to 
dangle  between  heaven  and  earth.  True,  all 
this  has  now  been  improved,  and  good  and  ap- 
propriate seats  are  usually  provided,  but  this 
only  ameliorates  the  conditions  ;  it  does  not  cure 
them.  If  the  parents  who  have  lost  something 
of  their  first  love  for  their  children,  or  who  are 
too  lazy  or  careless  or  ignorant  to  teach  them, 
will  go  to  these  patent- seated  school -rooms  and 
sit  for  five  mortal  hours  on  one  of  these  hard, 
wooden,  uncushioned  seats,  they  will  no  longer 
place  their  tender  children  in  these  modernized 
stocks.  You  who  no  longer  have  the  hot  blood 
and  restless  nervous  energy  of  youth  make  long 
faces  and  complain  bitterly  from  your  well 
cushioned  pew,  if  the  over- earnest  pastor  pro- 
longs his  sermon  ten  minutes  beyond  the  custo- 
mary time.  It  may  be  said  that  many,  neverthe- 
less, secured  a  primary  education  under  these 
unfavorable  conditions.  But  I  did  not ;  I  re- 
ceived it  at  my  mother's  knee  in  the  old 
kitchen,  some  of  it  before  daylight.  About  all  I 
got  in  that  old  school-house  were  kicks  and  cuffs 
from  boys  who  were  older  and  stronger  than  I, 
and  round   shoulders   from  sitting  through  many 


46  The   Farmstead 

weary  hours  on  backless  benches,  and  blistered 
hands  in  punishment  for  my  unrestrained  in- 
terest in  things  in  general,  and  in  my  school- 
mates in  particular. 

But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  the  oppor- 
tunities which  a  farm  life  gives  for  education? 
It  is  to  emphasize  the  need  of  more  home  train- 
ing, more  personal  attention  by  the  parents,  and 
a  more  natural  and  rational  education  of  those 
whom  it  has  been  our  responsibility  to  bring 
into  existence,  and  upon  whose  shoulders  will 
rest  the  weal  or  woe  of  our  country.  In  these 
rural  homes,  children  should  be  reared  and  edu- 
cated until  they  have  reached  the  point  beyond 
which  their  parents  or  the  older  children  cannot 
carry  them.  The  child,  when  only  two  or  three 
years  old,  begins  to  learn  handicraft,  performs 
some  little  helpful  act  for  another  ;  it  is  being 
taught  to  work.  As  it  becomes  more  mature  it  is 
to  do  useful  things ;  but  who  thinks  of  keep- 
ing the  child  of  eight  to  ten  years  of  age  at  con- 
tinuous work  for  five  or  six  hours  daily!  Why 
not  carry  on  the  child's  mental  education  along 
these  natural  lines  in  the  same  manner  as  it 
receives  its  primary  technical  education  ? 

I  am  almost  persuaded  that  the  farmers' 
children  would  be  better  off  if  the  old  red 
school -house  on  the  dusty,  treeless  four  corners 
was   abandoned,  and    the    responsibility   for   the 


Primary   Education  4? 

education  of  the  children  up  to  twelve  or  four- 
teen years  of  age  was  thrown  upon  the  parents. 
As  it  is,  the  parents  who  have  received  a  fairly 
good  primary  education  become  rusty  and  illit- 
erate simply  from  non-use  of  the  education 
which  they  had  when  they  left  the  schools.  If 
the  unexcelled  opportunities  which  rural  life 
offers  for  securing  a  primary  education  were  only 
utilized,  there  would  be  fewer  country  youths 
hating  even  the  sight  of  that  red  school -house 
which  has  received  such  honorable  mention.  It 
has  been  glorified  in  every  Fourth  of  July  ora- 
tion, but  it  still  remains  not  only  unevolution- 
ized  but  even  degenerated. 

If  you  ever  imagined  that  the  best  provision 
has  been  made  for  teaching  the  little  ones, 
spend  a  day  in  one  of  these  school -houses. 
Take  some  book  with  you  that  is  as  abstract 
and  useless  to  you  as  the  children  believe  their 
books  to  be  to  them,  and  make  the  attempt  to 
memorize  a  single  page,  or  essay  to  write  a 
composition  on  "  The  Immortality  of  the  Soul," 
or  on  "  The  Wisdom  of  Annexing  the  South  Sea 
Islands."  Meantime,  classes  are  reciting  in  fal- 
setto voices  ;  the  teacher  is  giving  many  admoni- 
tions and  making  dire  threats  ;  a  festive  bum- 
blebee has  found  its  way  through  the  open  win- 
dow and  makes  as  much  commotion  among  the 
timid  girls   as  a  mouse   at  a  tea-party.     Now   a 


48  The    Farmstead 

dog  barks,  and  the  boys  know  that  Bowser  has 
safely  treed  a  squirrel.  Before  you  have  had 
time  to  collect  your  thoughts  a  lusty  farm  boy, 
perched  on  a  creaking  wain,  whooping  loudly  to 
his  team,  goes  rattling  by.  Stay  a  week  and 
finish  your  composition,  and  see  how  fast  your 
children  are  securing  disjointed  fractions  of  an 
education.  A  half- hour  of  continuous,  quiet,  in- 
tensified study  at  home  is  worth  more  than  a  day 
in  many  a  school -room  where  little  muddy  driblets 
of  knowledge  are  being  doled  out  to  the  children. 

You  may  say  that  you  have  no  time  to  teach 
children.  Business  is  too  pressing,  and  you  are 
already  overworked.  You  should  have  thought 
of  that  sooner,  and  been  wholly  selfish  and  saved 
the  money  and  time  you  spent  to  persuade  that 
beautiful  maiden  to  join  you  and  help  perform 
the  duties  and  functions  of  life. 

You  will  certainly  agree  that  home  education 
is  the  best,  the  ideal  education.  For  a  child,  an 
hour  or  two  of  study  and  recreation  a  day,  an 
equal  time  employed  in  useful  work,  and  the 
rest  of  the  day  spent  in  picking  up  fun  and 
facts,  both  of  which  may  be  found  in  abundance 
on  the  old  farm,  is  the  natural  way  to  secure  a 
broad  primary  foundation,  upon  which  to  rest  a 
liberal  education. 

After  the  child  has  reached  the  age  of  ten 
or   twelve    and   has   had  careful  home   training, 


Preserve    the   Home    Life  49 

what  provision  can  be  made  for  continuing  its 
education  during  the  next  four  to  six  years  ? 
Two  or  more  districts  might  be  joined  to  form 
one,  for  graded  school  purposes.  On  every  farm 
is,  or  should  be,  a  spare  horse  and  a  light 
wagon ;  a  few  dollars  would  provide  a  stable 
near  the  school  building.  Such  an  arrangement 
would  permit  the  children  to  drive  to  and  from 
the  central  school,  although  the  distance  might 
be  two  or  three  miles.  All  this  means  that  the 
children  will  be  around  the  family  fireside  in  the 
evening  instead  of  on  the  street,  as  is  too  fre- 
quently the  case  when  they  are  sent  to  the  vil- 
lage or  city  school  and  remain  during  the  week. 
All  this  keeps  the  boys  and  girls  in  sympathy 
and  healthful  touch  with  home  life  and  their 
parents,  until  character  has  been  strengthened 
by  age  and  knowledge.  Here,  in  these  country 
and  village  graded  schools,  the  home  life,  with 
its  restraints  and  duties,  is  preserved.  Only  the 
mentally  strong  or  the  courageous  and  aspiring 
will  seek  the  halls  of  higher  learning,  from 
which,  if  they  tend  to  go  astray  or  neglect  their 
work,  they  are  quickly  returned  to  the  bosom  of 
their  families.  If  the  central  graded  school  is 
impracticable  in  some  cases,  then  a  few  families 
might  join  and  employ  a  private  instructor  ;  this 
would  be  far  cheaper  and  more  satisfactory  than 
to  send  the  children  away  from  home. 


50  The   Farmstead 

It  is  not  so  much  lack  of  facilities  as  a  lack 
of  an  appreciation  of  the  true  value  of  an  edu- 
cation which  debars  the  country  youth  from 
securing  even  a  wholesome  and  logical  primary 
education.  The  value  of  an  education  for  citi- 
zenship must  be  placed  first,  and  its  value  as  a 
money- making  power  second.  Now  the  first 
question  that  is  usually  asked  is,  Will  an  educa- 
tion help  to  secure  a  position  or  to  make 
money  ?  The  question,  Will  an  education  help 
to  a  nobler  citizenship  1  is  not  even  thought  of. 
We  shall  have  no  evolution  in  rural  training 
until  the  parents  secure  a  clearer  conception  of 
the  true  value  of  an  education. 

Evolution  along  educational  lines  has  already 
begun,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  many  bene- 
ficial effects  of  the  changed  methods.  M. 
Deinolins'  recent  book  has  this  to  say :  "  '  It  is 
useless  to  deny  the  superiority  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  We  may  be  vexed  by  this  superiority, 
but  the  fact  remains,  despite  our  vexation.' 
.  .  .  .  Considering  the  superiority  conclu- 
sively proved,  the  author  proceeds  to  search 
for  the  cause  of  this  superiority.  He  finds  the  se- 
cret of  this  irresistible  power  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
world  in  the  education  of  its  youth,  in  the  direction 
given  to  studies,  to  the  spirit  which  reigns  in 
the  school.  The  English  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  have  perceived  that  the   needs   of 


Educational    Opportunity    on    the    Farm  51 

the  time  require  that  youth  should  be  trained  to 
become  practical,  energetic  men,  and  not  public 
functionaries  or  pure  men  of  letters,  who  know 
life  only  from  what  they  learn  in  books.  M.  De- 
molins  has  personally  studied  with  care  some 
prominent  English  schools.  In  these  he  found  the 
school  buildings,  not  as  in  France,  immense  struc- 
tures with  the  aspect  of  a  barrack  or  a  prison,  but 
the  pupils  were  distributed  among  cottages,  in 
which  efforts  were  made  to  give  the  place  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  home.  They  were  not  surrounded  by 
high  walls,  but  there  was  an  abundance  of  air  and 
light  and  space  and  verdure.  In  place  of  the 
odious  refectories  of  the  French  colleges,  the  dining- 
room  was  like  that  of  a  family,  and  the  professors 
and  director  of  the  school,  with  his  wife  and 
daughters,  sat  at  table  with  the  pupils."* 

Here  is  seen  the  beginning  of  better  methods 
in  primary  education.  In  the  rural  districts  of 
America,  this  system  needs  but  little  modifica- 
tion to  fit  it  to  the  rural  home.  All  else  must 
yield  to  the  inborn  rights  of  the  children.  If 
that  Brussels  carpet  which  adorns  the  dark  and 
unused  parlor  must  be  pulled  up  and  some  of 
the  worst  pictures  relegated  to  the  garret,  in 
order  that  provision  for  a  school -room  for  the 
children  of  the  family  or  for  those  of  the  im- 
mediate neighborhood   may   be   made,  then  pull 

♦Editorial,  «  Literary  Digest,"  July  2,  1898. 


52  The   Farmstead 

it  up.  Receive  the  visitor  in  the  sitting-room  or 
on  the  veranda,  and  let  the  neighborly  chat  be 
where  there  is  "  air,  and  light,  and  space,  and 
verdure." 

Reduce  the  above  picture  of  an  English  school 
to  suit  environment,  and  we  have  the  family  as 
a  unit ;  the  mother  and  her  companion  as  teach- 
ers ;  and  we  shall  have  not  only  the  appearance 
of  home,  but  a  true  home,  where  duty  com- 
mands and  love  obeys.  This  is  no  far-fetched 
picture  ;  it  is  one  drawn  from  many  observed 
instances  of  these  farm  home  schools.  The 
youths  on  the  farm  have  a  right  to  a  liberal 
education  if  they  desire  it ;  they  own  the  earth, 
and  why  should  they  not  have  the  best  it 
affords  if  they  make  good  use  of  what  the  earth 
and  all  that  therein  is  has  to  offer. 

When  we  come  to  the  higher  education,  there 
are  good  and  sufficient  reasons  why  pupils 
should  be  massed.  At  the  college,  expensive  and 
rare  appliances,  great  laboratories  and  mu- 
seums, ample  and  expensive  libraries,  and  dis- 
tinguished and  able  teachers,  must  be  provided. 
Then,  too,  the  pupils  of  the  college  have  arrived 
at  that  period  of  maturity  which  gives  them  a 
fair  degree  of   self-restraint  and  discretion. 

Connected,  as  I  have  been  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  with  college  life,  I  have 
had   many    opportunities    to   observe   the   fresh- 


The   Down -hill   Road  53 

ness,  vigor  and  purity  of  many  of  the  country 
lads  and  lasses  who  come  directly  from  the 
healthy,  solid  home  instruction  of  their  parents. 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  chapter  will  not 
revolutionize  rural  primary  education.  I  do  not 
want  it  to  do  so.  Revolution  destroys  ;  evolution 
builds.  But  if  these  brief  words  of  one  who 
received  until  near  manhood  the  thoughtful, 
loving  home  training  of  a  mother,  who  said, 
"  I  received  a  better  education  than  my  parents 
did,  and,  come  what  will,  I  determine  that  my 
children  shall  have  better  opportunities  for  se- 
curing an  education  than  I  had,"  shall  persuade 
some  that  the  farm  home  is  the  natural,  the 
appointed  place  for  training  children  until  they 
have  passed  the  critical  mental  and  physical 
period  of  life,  I  shall  be  content. 


CHAPTER   IV 

SELECTION   AND    PURCHASE    OF   FARMS 

In  selecting  a  farm,  many  things  should  be 
considered.  One  purchaser  may  lay  stress  on 
the  quality  or  productivity  of  the  land,  another 
on  its  location  as  to  market,  another  as 
to  the  outlook  or  scenery,  and  another  as  to 
the  society  in  the  immediate  locality.  Some 
would  be  unhappy  if  far  removed  from  city  or 
town,  while  others  delight  in  many  broad  acres 
far  removed  from  the  busy  crowd.  All  these 
different  phases  of  the  subject,  with  many 
others,  should  be  considered  before  the  pur- 
chase is  made.  It  is  seldom  that  a  farm  can 
be  secured  which  fulfils  all  desirable  condi- 
tions ;  therefore,  such  choice  should  be  made  as 
will  most  fully  meet  the  desires  and  tastes  of 
the  purchaser. 

Some  farms  are  purchased  with  little  or  no 
thought  of  their  producing  a  livelihood,  while 
others  are  selected  largely  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  profits  in  their  cultivation,  and  others 
are  bought  because  they  are  expected  to  furnish 
safe    and    profitable    investments.     It   is    evident 

(54) 


Health   and   Morality  55 

that  no  specific  or  even  general  rnle  can  be 
formulated  which  will  be  applicable  to  all  pur- 
chasers, since  tastes,  training,  needs  and  desires 
of  the  purchaser  vary  widely ;  nevertheless,  a 
discussion  of  the  subject  may  be  profitable. 
Those  who  secure  their  income  and  profits  by 
agriculture  alone  should  lay  stress  on  four 
things;  viz.,  healthfulness,  environment,  quality 
of  land,  and  water  supply. 

Without  health,  life  often  becomes  a  burden  ; 
therefore,  climatic  conditions,  soil  and  surround- 
ings, so  far  as  they  relate  to  physical  and 
mental  vigor,  should  be  considered  first.  But 
health  and  vigor  are  not  all,  for  if  the  moral, 
intellectual  and  social  conditions  of  the  people 
in  the  neighborhood  are  undesirable,  the  chil- 
dren may  take  the  road  which  leads  towards 
semi -barbarism.  This  road  is  open  to  all,  in 
city  and  country,  but  parents  should  avoid 
thrusting  their  children  into  it.  Church,  and  so- 
cial congenial  and  God-fearing  associates  should 
be  accessible  to  the  growing  family.  Children  are 
and  must  be  active,  physically  and  mentally,  if 
they  are  to  grow  straight;  and  if  provisions  are 
not  made  for  directing  their  energies  into  proper 
channels,  they  are  likely  to  find  improper  ones. 
Wherever  the  farmer  sows  not  a  full  abundance 
of  good  seeds,  weeds  are  certain  to  spring  up. 
The   farm   must  provide   a   fair   and   liberal   in- 


56  The   Farmstead 

come,  because  want  brings  lack  of  true  pride, 
breeds  carelessness,  even  hatred  of  others,  filches 
self-respect  and  courage.  Therefore,  if  profits 
are  desired,  good  land,  land  of  wide  agricultural 
capabilities,  should  be  selected.  The  greater 
variety  of  crops  the  land  is  capable  of  produc- 
ing and  the  more  varieties  the  farmer  raises, 
provided  he  does  not  exceed  his  mental  and 
executive  capabilities,  the  better  will  be  his 
education  and  training. 

Frequently  the  purchaser  has  too  little  means, 
and  feels  that  he  must  secure  cheap  lands, 
which  too  often  are  situated  far  from  the  rail- 
way markets  and  centers  of  activity.  In  such  a 
case,  he  places  himself  outside  the  activities  of 
the  towns,  which  are  extremely  helpful  to  him  if 
he  be  wise  enough  to  choose  the  good  and  re- 
fuse the  evil  which  they  offer.  Of  course,  much 
depends  on  the  good  sense  of  the  parents  and 
the  inheritance  and  training  of  the  children  as 
to  how  much  they  will  imbibe  of  that  which  is 
good  and  how  much  they  will  refuse  of  that 
which  is  evil.  Children  cannot  be  placed  entirely 
beyond  evil  influences,  but  they  can  be  pre- 
vented from  becoming  too  familiar  with  them. 

"Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen  ; 
Yet  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 


Good    Water    Supply  57 

Already  something  has  been  said  with  regard 
to  an  abundant  supply  of  water,  but  it  may  not 
be  out  of  plaee  to  emphasize  the  necessity  of  se- 
curing healthful  water  for  household  purposes. 
Modern  science  has  revealed  the  fact  that  a 
large  number  of  diseases  are  introduced  into  the 
system  by  means  of  drinking  water  (see  Chapter 
XII ) .  All  drinking  water  may  be  boiled  ;  it  may 
be  said  that  it  should  be,  for  in  too  many  cases 
water  that  appears  limpid  and  pure,  drawn  from 
sources  which  have  every  appearance  of  being 
uncontaminated,  is  not  only  dangerous  but 
sometimes  deadly.  Careful  physicians  recom- 
mend that  all  water  be  filtered,  but  so  many  of 
the  filters  are  imperfect  and  are  so  badly 
neglected  that  there  is  no  certainty  that  filtered 
water  is  entirely  safe  ;  therefore,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  only  safe  way  is  to  boil  all  drinking 
water.  As  the  streams  and  soil  become  more 
and  more  contaminated  by  unsanitary  condi- 
tions, it  is  only  in  rare  cases  that  safe  water 
can  be  secured  naturally.  When  wells  or 
streams  become  low,  or  when  streams  are 
quickly  flushed  by  heavy  rains,  invariably  there 
is  danger  that  the  water  which  they  contain 
may  be  impure.  Care  should  be  taken  to  pro- 
vide an  abundance  of  water,  and  that  used  for 
household  purposes  should  be  treated  in  such 
manner  as   will   make  it  entirely  healthful. 


58  The   Farmstead 

Having  discussed  the  subject  from  four  lead- 
ing standpoints,  those  of  less  importance  may 
be  taken  up.  It  is  usually  not  wise  to  purchase 
a  farm,  however  well  it  may  fulfil  the  require- 
ments of  healthful ness,  desirable  environment 
and  productivity,  if  the  lands  by  which  it  is 
surrounded  are  poor,  since  man,  in  one  respect, 
is  like  the  tree  toad,  which  partakes  largely  of 
the  color  of  the  thing  to  which  it  adheres.  The 
French  have  a  proverb  which  runs  in  this  wise: 
"  Tell  me  where  you  live,  and  I  will  tell  you 
your  name."  Translated  into  modern  thought,  it 
would  read  :  "  Tell  me  your  environment,  ,and  I 
will  tell  you  your  character." 

Beauty  of  natural  scenery  may  not  be  entirely 
ignored,  although  utility,  the  dollar,  must  be 
kept  prominently  in  view.  One  can  afford  to 
economize  in  the  living  expenses  in  many  ways 
not  dreamed  of  by  those  who  load  the  farm 
table  with  a  superabundance  of  good  things,  if 
it  be  necessary  to  do  so,  to  secure  beautiful 
surroundings.  It  may  be  only  a  question  of 
choice  between  a  moderate  subsistence  and  a 
reposeful  environment,  or  an  overloaded  table 
with  uninspiring  surroundings.  Natural  as  well 
as  artificial  beauty  and  pleasurable  environment 
have  their  values.  A  certain  lot  on  one  street 
sells  for  $1,000,  another  one  on  the  same  street 
for   $500.      They  are   both  within  easy  reach  of 


The   Water   Supply  59 

the  business  center,  on  the  same  street- car  line, 
of  the  same  size,  and  have  the  same  elevation. 
Why  the  difference  in  price?  Because  of  envi- 
ronment. A  seat  in  the  dress  circle  at  the 
theater  costs  a  dollar,  one  in  the  peanut  gallery 
ten  cents.  The  play  can  be  seen  as  well  with 
a  glass  in  the  cheap  seat  as  in  the  more  ex- 
pensive one.  Then  environment  has  value,  as 
well  as  land  and  buildings. 

The  value  of  the  farm  may  be  greatly  modi- 
fied by  the  improvements  upon  it.  It  is  well  to 
ask,  Is  the  house  well  located?  May  it  not 
have  to  be  virtually  rebuilt  before  it  is  at  all 
satisfactory!  Will  it  be  necessary  to  move  and 
repair  barns  before  they  are  at  all  suited  to 
their  purposes!  The  improvements  may  be  too 
extended  for  the  needs  of  the  purchaser.  Some 
farms  are  overloaded  with  buildings  ( Fig.  4 ) ; 
some  have  badly  arranged,  unsightly  buildings, 
too  good  to  destroy  and  too  ugly  and  unhandy 
for  either  economy  or  pleasure.  Farm  buildings 
are  not  a  direct  source  of  income  and  are  ex- 
pensive to  keep  in  repair ;  therefore,  there  would 
better  be  a  slight  deficiency  of  them  than  an 
ill  arranged  surplus.  All  other  permanent  im- 
provements, such  as  orchards,  plantations,  fences, 
and  the  like,  should  be  carefully  considered.  A 
good  bearing  orchard  of  only  a  few  acres  may 
serve  to  furnish  enough  profit  each  year  to  liq- 


60 


The    Farmstead 


uidate  taxes  and  interest  charges.  The  orchard 
may  be  cheaper  at  $500  per  acre  than  the  bal- 
ance of  the  farm  is  at  $75  per  acre,  or  it  may 
be  only  an  incumbrance  of  good  land.  Is  the 
farm    naturally  or    artificially  drained?      If    not, 


Fig.  4.    Too  many  buildings  for  eighty  acres  of  land. 


will  $35  per  acre  have  to  be  spent  in  thorough 
draining  before  the  land  is  really  satisfactory? 
If  not  drained,  will  it  bring  constant  disappoint- 
ment? Fences,  lanes  and  the  necessity  for  them, 
the  amount  and  location  of  inferior  land  as  pas- 
ture  land,  the  kind  of  weeds  about  the  farm,  as 


Suitable    Land  61 

well  as  the  amount,  kind  and  location  of  timber, 
should  be  considered. 

Land  devoted  to  market -gardening  should  be 
near  the  market  town  where  the  perishable  prod- 
ucts are  to  be  sold.  Vegetables  should  reach 
the  market  early  in  their  season  in  a  fresh  and 
presentable  condition  and  cheaply,  if  satisfactory 
profits  are-  desired.  Then  land  which  can  be 
tilled  early  (warm  or  sandy  land) ,  though  it 
may  contain  a  comparatively  small  amount  of 
natural  plant- food,  will  be  more  satisfactory 
than  rich,  cold  land  situated  farther  from  the 
market.  An  acre  of  poor,  sandy  land  near  the 
market  may  be  worth,  to  the  gardener,  three  or 
four  times  as  much  as  an  acre  of  the  more  dis- 
tant fertile  upland. 

Near  the  town,  manures,  which  are  so  neces- 
sary to  force  many  market -garden  products,  can 
be  procured  cheaply  and  in  abundance.  The 
added  distance  of  even  one  or  two  miles  from 
the  switch  or  shipping  station  may  have  an  im- 
portant effect  on  profits.  Land  situated  far 
from  market  may  well  be  devoted  to  stock- 
raising  and  such  other  products  as  may  be 
marketed  infrequently  or  at  leisure.  As  yet, 
agricultural  methods  in  America  are  so  new  that 
they  have  not  adjusted  themselves  to  the  grow- 
ing cities,  nor  have  specialized  crops  found  their 
appropriate  localities.     Too  often  are  seen  truck 


62  The   Farmstead 

farms  located  half  a  score  of  miles  from  the 
city,  and  the  meat -producing  farms  within  sight 
of  it.  As  the  country  becomes  older,  the  varied 
activities  in  agriculture  will  fit  themselves  into 
their  appropriate  localities,  as  they  have  already 
done  in  many  parts  of  Europe.  The  dairyman 
of  the  Channel  islands  has  long  since  learned 
that  the  piebald  cattle  of  the  poulders  are  not 
suited  to  his  wants,  and  the  boer  of  the  low- 
land knows  that  the  meek -eyed,  thin-skinned 
Jersey  is  not  best  adapted  to  his  cold,  windy 
country  and  wet  pastures. 

Cost  of  tillage  should  be  considered  when 
valuing  land.  When  produced  on  friable  land, 
crops  may  be  secured  at  much  less  cost  than 
on  tenacious  clay.  On  the  other  hand,  while 
sandy  soils  are  the  most  easily  cultivated,  they 
are  ever  demanding  more  plant -food,  and  hence 
are  not  well  adapted  to  grass  or  general  agri- 
culture, as  the  expense  of  keeping  them  pro- 
ductive is  usually  so  great  as  to  preclude  profits. 

Except  in  special  cases,  as  in  truck  farming, 
it  is  cheaper  to  purchase  natural  plant -food 
in  the  soil  than  artificial  fertility.  One  acre  of 
land  may  have  potential  plant -food  sufficient 
under  superior  tillage  for  one  hundred  crops, 
while  another  unaided  will  yield  but  half  as 
many,  and  yet  the  two  pieces  of  land  are  often 
priced  at  the  same  figure.     In  other  words,  land 


Character   of  Roads  63 

of  high  productive  power  is  usually  cheaper 
than  land  of  low  productive  power.  A  good 
farm  may  be  cheaper  at  $50  per  acre  than  a 
poor  one  as  a  gift. 

Last,  but  not  least,  is  the  road  to  the 
farm.  Every  free-born  American  demands  a 
public  highway  in  front  of  his  house ;  if 
farms  are  small  there  must  then  be  a  highway 
about  every  mile,  or,  at  most,  every  two  miles. 
This  leads  to  cutting  up  the  country  into  en- 
larged checkerboards,  to  a  multiplication  of 
highways  so  great  that  none  of  them  can  be 
kept  passably  good  without  overtaxing  the  land 
which  adjoins  them.  On  account  of  the  con- 
tour of  the  land  over  which  they  pass,  some 
roads  are  extremely  difficult  and  are  well  de- 
scribed by  the  man  who,  when  asked  how  far 
it  was  from  a  certain  town  to  another  one, 
answered  :  "  Thirty  miles,  and  it's  up  hill  both 
ways."  As  I  write  this  I  look  out  upon  a 
washed  clay  road  which  stretches  up  and  on 
towards  the  horizon  for  six  weary  miles,  so  steep 
that  the  team  must  maintain  a  walk  for  the 
whole  distance  in  ascending  or  descending.  What 
is  land  worth  at  the  other  end  of  this  road,  as 
compared  with  that  which  lies  six  miles  away 
in  the  other  direction,  along  a  smooth,  level 
pike?  Every  grown  farm  boy  should  have  a 
good   horse    and    a    good   road   upon   which    to 


64  The   Farmstead 

drive,  if  he  be  worthy  of  such  a  noble  animal 
as  the  horse.  When  he  starts  for  himself  let 
him  locate  on  a  good  road.  There  are  always 
enough  persons  who  are  not  thankful  for  advice, 
especially  if  it  be  in  a  book,  who  are  looking 
for  cheap  land  at  the  end  of  the  hilly  ^oad. 

Many  farms  are  purchased  by  young  men 
just  starting  out  in  life  before  judgment  has 
been  developed  by  experience,  while  men  of 
mature  years  take  in  the  whole  problem,  or 
rather  series  of  problems,  easily  and  at  once. 
The  novice  would  do  well  to  make  a  list  of 
the  topics  enumerated  above,  and  add  to  them 
such  others  as  appeal  to  his  tastes  or  condi- 
tions and  then  study  them,  one  at  a  time  ;  in 
fact,  there  is  nothing  left  for  the  young  man 
to  do  but  to  make  out  a  score -card  upon  which 
he  records  his  judgment  in  numbers  as  he  in- 
vestigates each  phase  of  the  difficult  problem 
of  selecting  a  farm. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE   RELATION   OF  THE    FARMER    TO    THE   LAWYER 

Doubtless  more  than  one  reader  will  be  as- 
tonished, perhaps  even  horrified,  to  think  that 
the  writer  should  seriously  suggest  that  there 
ought  to  be  any  relation  whatever  between  the 
farmer  and  the  lawyer. 

It  has  come  to  be  generally  believed  by  many 
farmers  that  lawyers  are  at  best  a  necessary 
evil,  which  it  is  well  to  avoid  if  possible  ;  but, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  this  very  feeling  is 
responsible  for  much  of  the  litigation,  with  its 
attendant  loss  and  sometimes  ruin,  in  which  too 
many  farmers  have  been  engaged.  It  is  not  the 
purpose  of  this  short  chapter  to  treat  of  the 
subject  of  law,  or  to  try  to  lay  down  any  rules 
to  be  blindly  followed  in  legal  matters.  An 
old  and  learned  lawyer,  who  had  all  his  life 
been  engaged  in  a  country  practice,  once  told 
me  that  the  most  prolific  sources  of  litigation 
were  alleged  text -books  of  law,  bearing  such 
alluring  and  seductive  titles  as  "  Every  Man 
his  own  Lawyer,"  or  "  The  Farmer's  own  Law 
Book." 

E  (65) 


66  The    Farmstead 

Several  years  ago,  a  wealthy  manufacturer 
of  the  state  of  New  York  sent  a  bright  son 
to  a  law  school,  to  help  prepare  him  for  a 
business  career.  At  the  end  of  his  course 
the  proud  father  was  present  at  commence- 
ment, and,  in  the  course  of  conversation  with 
his  son,  said :  "  Well,  John,  I  suppose  you 
have  learned  a  great  deal."  John  answered, 
"  I  have  learned  one  thing  which  I  think  is  of 
value  ;  and  that  is,  if  any  legal  matter  comes 
up  in  the  course  of  my  business,  to  consult  the 
very  best  lawyer  I  can  find."  That  young  man 
had  really  learned  something  worth  far  more  than 
the  cost  of  his  course   in  the  college  of  law. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  other  of  the  so-called 
learned  professions  which  is  so  exacting  and 
which  requires  more  devotion  and  study  for  its 
mastery.  Some  of  the  brightest  men  in  this 
country  have  devoted  a  lifetime  to  the  study 
and  practice  of  law,  only  to  have  just  entered 
its  broad  field  as  they  have  been  compelled  to 
lay  down  their  work.  How  futile,  then,  would 
be  the  attempt  to  make  every  man  his  own 
lawyer !  The  real  purpose  of  this  chapter  is 
to  open  the  eyes  of  the  farmer  to  the  necessity 
of  a  closer  relationship  between  himself  and  the 
lawyer,— the  family  lawyer,  if  you  please,  hav- 
ing his  confidence  to  the  same  extent  as  that 
of  the  family  doctor. 


The    Title    to    the    Farm  67 

Most  farmers  desire  a  comfortable  and  a 
beautiful  home,  and  it  is  to  aid  such  that  this 
book  is  written.  Such  a  farmer  would  doubt- 
less consult  a  builder  or  an  architect  as  to  the 
foundation,  walls,  plan  and  materials  of  the 
home  to  be  constructed,  and  he  would  act 
wisely ;  but  how  many  would  think  so  far  as 
to  consult"  a  lawyer  as  to  the  very  foundation 
upon  which  his  home  and  his  future  happy 
occupancy  of  it  rest:  the  title  to  the  farm. 
Too  many  times  he  is  satisfied  with  the  services 
of  the  village  solons, — the  shoemaker  who  is  a 
notary  public,  the  justice  of  the  peace,  or 
the  pettifogger  who  daily  overrules  the  supreme 
court  or  the  court  of  appeals.  Years  after  he 
has  purchased  his  farm,  he  finds,  perhaps,  that 
some  man  has  given  a  deed  whose  wife  has  not 
signed,  and  upon  the  death  of  the  woman's 
husband  our  farmer  friend  is  confronted  with 
a  law  suit ;  and  he  finds  that  this  wife,  who  did 
not  sign  the  deed,  is  entitled  to  dower  in  his 
farm,  the  use  of  one -third  of  its  value  at  the 
time  her  husband  gave  the  deed,  for  life.  Such 
cases  are  frequent,  and  might  easily  be  pre- 
vented by  submitting  an  abstract  of  the  title  to 
a  lawyer  at  a  cost  of  $5  or  less.  The  flaw  in 
the  title  may  be  a  mortgage  or  judgment,  or  a 
failure  of  all  the  heirs  of  a  deceased  person, 
somewhere   along   the   chain   of   title,  to   join   in 


68  The    Farmstead 

the  deed  ;  all  of  which  might  be  overlooked  by 
the  ordinary  business  man,  and  yet  be  readily 
detected  by  a  lawyer. 

Some  day  the  farmer  may  be  annoyed  by 
the  encroachment  of  a  neighbor  upon  his  farm, 
and,  when  in  the  midst  of  a  litigation,  find  that 
the  description  of  his  farm  is  so  defective  that 
there  is  no  relief.  I  have  in  my  possession  a 
deed  of  a  valuable  farm  containing  this  descrip- 
tion :      "  Beginning    on    the  road    at    the 

south  end  of  a  pile  of  four -foot  wood ;  run- 
ning thence  westwardly  to  a  black  cherry  tree, 
thence  northerly  to  a  stake,  thence  easterly  to 
a  pine  stump  in  the  center  of  the  road,  and 
thence  southerly  to  the  place  of  beginning,  con- 
taining 100  acres,  more  or  less."  For  fifty 
years  this  description  has  been  copied,  a  score 
of  times,  by  the  various  justices  of  the  peace 
and  notaries  public  of  the  neighboring  hamlet, 
but  fortunately,  however,  it  has  never  devolved 
upon  the  owners  to  establish  the  boundaries  of 
that  farm.  The  first  lawyer  who  got  hold  of 
this  particular  deed  insisted  upon  such  a  de- 
scription as  would  be  tangible  and  certain. 
Not  many  years  ago  a  mortgage  on  a  valuable 
farm  in  Tompkins  county,  X.  Y.,  was  fore- 
closed, and  during  the  foreclosure  it  was  dis- 
covered that  this  mortgage  covered  about  fifty 
acres  of    Cayuga  lake,  and  what    had   been  sup- 


Titles    and   Abstracts  69 

posed  to  be  a  valuable  mortgage  was  depreci- 
ated one -half  by  reason  of  the  neglect  and 
incompetence  of  the  country  conveyancer. 

So,  too,  there  are  questions  as  to  line  fences, 
water  courses,  rights  of  way,  encroachment 
upon  the  highway,  and  an  innumerable  train  of 
threatening  evils,  continually  arising,  any  one 
of  which,  if  neglected  or  referred  to  the  many 
wiseacres  common  to  every  community,  may  lead 
to  costly  litigation,  or  even  to  the  loss  of  the 
farm  itself.  A  bit  of  counsel  at  the  right  time, 
which  is  when  the  matter  first  appears,  will  pre- 
vent, at  trifling  cost,  all  the  attendant  evils  of  a 
law  suit. 

Such  instances  are  very  common  in  the  ex- 
perience of  every  lawyer  who  enjoys  even  a 
moderate  country  practice  ;  and  it  is  an  alarm- 
ing fact  that  perhaps  fifty  per  cent  of  the  titles 
to  all  the  farms,  especially  in  the  older  states, 
have  flaws  more  or  less  serious,  any  one  of 
which  is  a  microbe  of  trouble,  liable  to  assert 
itself  when  least  expected.  This  being  so,  the 
general  and  inflexible  rule  should  ever  prevail, 
never  to  take  a  deed  of  property  without  an 
abstract  of  title  which  has  been  examined  by  a 
competent  attorney.  The  so-called  maxims  of 
law,  often  repeated  and  distorted,  especially  in 
farming  communities,  are  extremely  dangerous 
to  follow.     They  may  have   some   foundation  in 


70  The   Farmstead 

fact,  but  as  almost  all  rules  of  law  have  their 
exceptions,  and  as  no  one  not  versed  in  the  law 
is  competent  to  pass  upon  them,  they  should 
never  be  blindly  followed  by  a  layman. 

To  illustrate  this  point :  Not  long  ago  a 
prosperous  farmer,  relying  upon  the  oft -repeated 
assertion  that  twenty  years  of  peaceable  posses- 
sion gave  title,  became  involved  in  a  lawsuit 
with  the  town  over  a  fence  which  had  been 
built  in  the  highway  adjacent  to  his  farm.  He 
was  an  astonished  man  when  the  lawyer  whom 
he  consulted  told  him  that  possession  for  a 
thousand  years  of  the  land  claimed  would  not 
give  him  title  as  against  the  public. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  a  farmer,  who 
will  drive  his  horse  for  miles  to  have  him  shod 
by  an  expert,  or  who  will  summon  a  veterina- 
rian to  treat  a  sick  cow,  will  be  satisfied  to 
consult  what  someone  has  brightly  termed  a 
necessity  lawyer, — because  necessity  knows  no 
law, — upon  matters  affecting  his  farm,  his  home, 
or  his  competence,  rather  than  the  experienced 
lawyer.  The  cow  might  be  replaced  for  forty 
or  fifty  dollars  if  a  mistake  was  made,  but  the 
farm,  the  competence,  have  cost  a  lifetime  of 
labor. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  example  of  neglect 
on  the  part  of  the  farmer  is  in  regard  to  the 
disposal    of   the   fruits    of   his   life-work.      It   is 


Sources   of  Litigation  71 

true  that  anybody  can  draw  a  will,  and  yet  the 
fact  that  men  and  women  allow  anybody  to 
draw  their  wills  is  productive  of  more  fat  fees 
than  arise  from  any  other  source.  Not  long 
ago  an  acquaintance,  who  did  not  realize  the 
truth  of  the  old  adage  that  "  a  little  knowledge 
is  a  dangerous  thing,"  drew  his  own  will,  and, 
being  childless,  sought  to  leave  his  property  to 
his  wife,  who  had  been  the  partner  of  his  labors 
in  a  long  life  of  toil.  The  law  of  the  state  of 
New  York  requires  two  witnesses  to  a  will.  He 
procured  only  one,  and  upon  his  death  the 
property,  which  husband  and  wife  had  with  so 
much  toil  secured,  was  for  the  most  part  scat- 
tered among  distant  relatives,  almost  strangers, 
because  he  was  afraid  of  lawyers  and  their  fees. 
In  all  the  varied  business  which  a  farmer  will 
meet, — the  giving  of  notes,  mortgages,  etc.,  or, 
better,  the  taking  of  mortgages,  bills  of  sale, 
and  promissory  notes, —  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  different  conditions  of  fact  make  necessary 
different  interpretations  of  the  law,  and  that  it  is 
usually  unsafe  to  follow  a  neighborhood  prece- 
dent. Oftentimes  you  may  be  called  upon  to 
transact  business  where  it  is  not  convenient  to 
consult  a  lawyer.  In  such  cases,  and  in  all 
transactions  of  any  magnitude  or  possible  im- 
portance, all  talk,  or  the  essence  of  it,  should 
be  reduced  to  writing.     Then  it  cannot  get  away 


72  The    Farmstead 

or  be  distorted  or  forgotten,  and  is  in  good 
shape  to  submit,  at  the  first  opportunity,  to 
your  lawyer,  who,  if  an  error  has  been  made, 
can,  while  the  matter  is  fresh,  more  easily  cor- 
rect it.  Remember  that  a  contract  is  simply  a 
meeting  of  the  minds  of  the  contracting  parties, 
and  the  best  drawn  contract  possible  is  one  that 
states,  in  language  simple  and  concise,  what 
each   means   as   expressed   by  word  of   mouth. 

Most  of  the  litigation  so  much  feared  by  the 
farmer  is  due  to  the  farmer  himself  and  his 
neglect  to  seek  an  ounce  of  preventive.  It  is 
true  that  there  are  rascally  lawyers  ;  so,  too, 
there  are  dishonest  men  in  every  trade,  occupa- 
tion or  profession,  but  they  are  generally  easily 
located. 

If  this  chapter  shall  lead  the  farmer  to  feel 
that  his  business  is  farming,  that  "  a  jack-at- 
all- trades  is  master  of  none,"  and  that  the  law, 
justly  interpreted  and  enforced  by  those  who 
know  it  thoroughly  and  well,  is  to  be  the 
foundation  of  his  success,  the  guarantee  of 
his  home  through  life,  and  the  channel  of  its 
proper  disposal  after  death,  then  it  has  not  been 
written  in  vain.  Remember  that  the  province  of 
the  true  lawyer  is  to  keep  his  client  out  of 
trouble,  rather  than  to  get  him  out  of  trouble. 
An  honest  lawyer,  of  whom,  thank  Heaven, 
there  are  very  many,  notwithstanding  the  popu- 


The    Lawyer    Your   Friend  73 

lar  prejudice  of  those  who  have  suffered  from 
litigation,  will  always  try  to  steer  you  clear  of 
litigation  and  loss. 

In  conclusion,  then,  always  consult  a  lawyer 
in  matters  affecting  your  farm  or  property.  The 
average  fees  of  a  lifetime  will  not  exceed  fifty 
dollars,  and  oftentimes  valuable  advice  will  be 
given  free.  Select  one  in  whom  you  have  con- 
fidence, and  stick  to  him.  Become  his  friend, 
and  let  the  relation  be  one  of  mutual  confi- 
dence. Do  not  neglect  to  ask  him  a  question 
because  you  fear  he  will  think  you  dumb;  he 
probably  knows  less  about  farming  than  you 
do  about  law.  He  will  need  your  advice  and 
influence  in  minor  matters  as  much  as  you  need 
his.  Call  on  him  when  you  are  in  town,  and 
he  will  be  glad  to  see  you.  Very  often  he  will 
answer  your  question  gratis.  When  he  charges 
you  what  may  seem  a  large  fee,  remember  that 
you  are  paying  for  skilled  labor,  and  that  you 
are  entitled  to  expend  as  much  for  the  possible 
welfare  and  happiness  of  your  family  as  you 
expend  upon  the  choice  stock  in  your  stables. 
Farmers,  more  than  any  other  class  of  men, 
perhaps,  are  prone  to  neglect  legal  matters,  or 
place  them  in  incompetent  hands. 


CHAPTER   VI 

LOCATING    THE   HOUSE 

Since  more  than  three -fourths  of  the  life  of 
the  farmer  and  his  family  are  spent  in  sight  of 
home,  more  than  one -half  of  life  in  the  house, 
and  more  than  one -fourth  in  bed,  the  house,  the 
place  where  they  live,  should  receive  most  care- 
ful attention.  Having  secured  sufficient  land  to 
maintain  a  home,  and  having  made  certain  that 
these  lands  are  productive  and  profitable,  a 
problem  is  presented  in  locating  and  building 
the  house  which  demands  a  high  degree  of  in- 
telligence, long,  painstaking  study,  and  a  good 
understanding  of  what  constitutes  fitness,  beauty 
and  durability. 

Life  in  the  country  gives  one  the  idea  of  re- 
pose, of  strength  and  breadth,  of  largeness,  of 
solidity  and  durability,  of  healthy,  symmetrical, 
solid  development.  Things  which  are  evanes- 
cent, unreal,  shoddy;  things  which  are  simply 
for  show  or  vulgar  display  ;  things  which  have 
the  appearance  of  aping  that  which  may  be 
appropriate  under  different  conditions,  but  are 
totally     out    of    place    in    rural    life,    must    be 

(74) 


Principles   of   Ventilation  75 

avoided  if  utility,  natural  beauty  and  comfort, 
economy  and  repose  are  to  be  secured. 

The  pioneer  in  the  wooded  districts  built  the 
home  in  some  sequestered  nook  or  valley  at  the 
base  of  the  hill  or  table  land,  where  the  spring 
or  the  stream  issued  from  the  wood -covered 
heights.  The  rural  house  of  the  pioneer  allowed 
free  circulation  of  the  frosty  air ;  the  problem 
of  ventilation  they  solved  without  knowing  it. 
Unwittingly  they  adopted  the  correct  principle  ; 
viz.,  ventilation  by  many  small,  gentle  streams 
of  air  instead  of  by  a  few  large  openings,  which 
create  dangerous  drafts.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  our  forefathers  overdid  the  ventilation  in 
most  cases,  and  rheumatism  and  chilblains  were 
the  result;   but  the  principle  was  correct. 

Now  the  spring  has  dried  up,  the  water  from 
the  deforested  hills  comes  rushing  to  the  low- 
lands until  the  streams  overflow  their  banks, 
and  these  and  other  changed  conditions  indicate 
that  the  future  farmsteads  should  be  erected  on 
higher  land,  on  the  slopes  of  the  hills.  From 
the  one  extreme  we  have  gone,  in  some  cases, 
to  the  other,  and  the  home  has  been  built  on 
the  very  apex  of  some  lofty  hill.  Such  locations 
may  be  well  adapted  for  summer  residences, 
where  little  or  no  farming  is  carried  on,  but  are 
not  suitable  for  the  farm  home. 

Now  that  the  house  is  constructed  by  more 


76  The   Farmstead 

skilled  workmen  than  formerly,  and  out  of  bet- 
ter material,  there  is  little  need  of  locating  the 
home  in  the  sheltered  nook,  except  possibly  in 
the  extreme  north,  or  on  plains  subject  to  tor- 
nadoes. The  object  in  locating  the  house  on 
somewhat  elevated  lands  is  fourfold.  First,  air 
drainage.  In  deep,  crooked,  narrow  valleys  the 
air  is  pocketed,  especially  at  night,  and  the 
damp,  cold  air  settles  in  the  lowest  land  as  cer- 
tainly as  water  finds  the  low -lying  pool.  In 
these  pockets  between  the  hills,  frosts  come 
early  and  remain  late. 

While  traveling  in  western  North  Carolina  in 
the  late  summer  and  fall,  I  could  not  but  observe 
how  every  little  break  in  the  hillside  and  every 
narrow  valley  was  filled  at  sunrise,  to  the  crest 
of  the  adjoining  hill,  with  a  dense  fog.  Slowly 
the  sun,  as  it  approached  the  zenith,  dissipated 
the  fog,  but  the  narrow  valleys  were  often  free 
from  fog  for  only  a  few  hours  each  day.  Here 
the  home  might  be  situated  well  up  the  moun- 
tain side,  as  shown  at  the  right  in  Fig.  5. 

In  a  little  pocket  about  twenty  feet  deep, 
formed  by  hills,  with  a  road  embankment  at  its 
mouth,  fruits  failed,  although  they  flourished  on 
the  adjoining  land,  where  there  was  good  air 
drainage  (Fig.  6).  If  fruits  do  not  thrive  on 
these  undrained  areas,  the  natural  conclusion 
is    that    the     children    will    not.      It    is   found 


Unhealthy    Locations 


11 


that  the  upper  stories  of  city  buildings  are 
healthier  than  the  lower  ones,  and  that  the 
ground  floor  is  the  most  unhealthy  of  all.  This 
is  the  only  objection  to  a  one -story  house.     On 


Fig.  5.    A  house  in  the  bottom  of  the  valley  and  one  on  the  mountain  side. 

the  level  prairies  little  opportunity  is  offered  for 
locating  the  house  above  the  level  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Fortunately,  many  of  the 
prairies  are  undulating,  and  furnish  most  beau- 
tiful locations  for  country  homes.     Much  may  be 


78 


The   Farmstead 


done,  even  in  the  level  country,  to  overcome 
the  disadvantages  of  the  site  by  placing  the 
cellar  of  the  house  only  two  or  three  feet  in 
the  ground  and  grading  up  to  within  a  short 
distance   of    the    top    of    the   wall.      A   pool   or 


Fig.  6.    A  frosty  pocket. 


two,  or  a  miniature  lake  near  the  barns,  and 
skilful  planting  of  trees  will  lend  a  diversity 
and  charm  well  worth  the  attention  and  time 
given  to  them. 

A  pool  may  be  made  by  scooping  a  place  in 
hard  earth  or  by  damming  a  stream  (Fig.  7). 
If  no  water  is  allowed  to  flow  over  the  dam  and 
it  is  raised  some  two  feet  above  the  overflows, 
it  will  serve  every  purpose  as  well  as  an  expen- 
sive grout  or  stone  structure.  It  will  be  noticed 
in  the  picture  that  provision  has   been   made  by 


Lakes   and   Pools 


79 


digging  shallow  ditches  on  the  right  and  left  for 
carrying  off  the  surplus  water  when  the  minia- 
ture lake  is  full.  In  constructing  the  dam,  a 
trench  two  feet  wide,  at  right  angles  to  the 
stream,  should  be  dug  to  the  depth  of  one  foot, 


Fig.  7.    A  useful  pond. 

or  until  solid  ground,  unmixed  with  vegetable 
matter,  is  reached.  Fill  the  trench  with  clayey 
earth  which  is  free  from  humus,  which  will  pre- 
vent the  dam  from  leaking  at  the  bottom  where 
it  meets  the  natural  soil.  The  stream  which 
feeds  the  lake  or  pond  should  be  small,  and 
need  not  be  perennial  if  the  dam  is  raised  as 
high  as  it  should  be.  If  the  water  is  dammed 
back  to  the  depth  of  twelve  to  fourteen  feet, 
and  the  banks  of  the  pond  are  rather  steep 
(A,  Fig.  7),  a  cool,  useful   miniature   lake   will 


80  The   Farmstead 

be  formed,  and  not  an  unsightly  marsh,  during 
the   dry  months   of  summer. 

Dryish,  gravelly  soil  and  subsoil  is  to  be 
much  preferred  as  a  site  for  a  house  to  clayey 
or  dark,  damp  soil  which  contains  much  humus. 
If  the  ideal  soil  cannot  be  secured,  then  thorough 
drainage  should  be  provided.  In  locating  on  a 
gentle  declivity,  there  is  a  constant  tendency  for 
water  to  penetrate  the  wall  next  the  hillside  or 
to  pass  under  the  wall  and  appear  in  the  bottom 
of  the  cellar.  Unless  this  can  certainly  be  pre- 
vented, another  location  had  better  be  selected. 

The  house  should  be  situated  on  somewhat 
elevated  ground,  to  promote  both  surface  and 
house  drainage.  If  it  is  the  purpose  to  intro- 
duce into  the  house  more  water  than  has  been 
furnished  heretofore,  then  full  provision  should 
be  made  for  carrying  all  waste  water  and  fecal 
matter  to  a  safe  distance  from  the  house,  and  to 
do  this  beyond  a  perad venture,  sufficient  fall 
must  be  secured  to  give  permanency  to  the  work 
and  an  unobstructed  outlet. 

One  of  the  objections  urged  against  a  country 
home  is  that  it  is  "too  quiet,"  too  much  shut 
up  from  the  outside  world.  This,  in  part,  is 
true.  It  detracts  much  from  the  enjoyment  and 
beauty  of  the  country  home  if  vision  is  shut  in 
to  a  few  acres  just  about  the  house.  The  Amer- 
ican   farmer    is    not    content   to    live    under    the 


Vistas    and   Landscape  81 

conditions  which  delight  the  Transvaal  Dntch 
farmer,  so  isolated  that  he  cannot  see  the  smoke 
from  his  neighbor's  chimney  nor  hear  the  bark 
of  his  neighbor's  dog. 

When  visiting  the  home  of  the'  Hon.  Edwin 
Morgan,  I  fonnd  that  he  was  having  three  large 
trees  cut  down.  It  seemed  to  the  uninstructed 
like  vandalism.  When  asked  the  reason  for  sac- 
rificing these  noble  trees,  nourished  and  tended 
for  half  a  century,  he  answered:  "I  have  many 
more  trees,  but  I  have  but  one  lake  —  Cayuga  — 
and  I  must  have  vistas  through  which  I  can 
watch  the  white  sail,  the  crested  waves,  the  ever- 
changing  colors  of  the  water  as  the  winds  open 
vistas  in  the  fleecy  clouds.  I  love  the  trees  not 
less,  but  the  soft  reflection  of  the  moonbeams 
on  the  rippling  wave  more,  and  so  the  trees 
must  give  way." 

The  outlook  from  the  vine -covered  veranda 
should  be  broad  and  extended.  If  possible,  the 
hill  and  dale,  the  stream  and  wood,  neighbors' 
houses  nestled  in  plantations  of  trees  and 
shrubs,  all  should  be  in  sight.  As  life  advances, 
I  see  more  and  more  clearly  the  effect  of  that 
noble  lake,  its  now  boisterous  now  placid  sur- 
face of  the  rippling  water  which  laved  the  stony 
beach.  I  see  its  effect  on  that  "tow- headed77  lad 
who  at  one  time  breasted  the  waves,  at  another 
sat  dreamily  casting  pebbles   into   the   clear  ex- 

11136 


82  The   Farmstead 

panse,  wondering  what  life  had  in  store,  what 
the  great  unknown  world  offered  for  the  nut- 
brown,  high- tempered,  crude  country  boy.  Then 
plant  the  country  home  where  nature  in  her 
happiest  moods  has  showered  her  richest  gifts  ! 

But  beauty  loses  much  of  its  charm  where 
healthy  vigor  gives  not  the  power  to  appreciate 
and  enjoy  it.  So  the  house  should  be  located 
on  a  healthy  eminence.  But  it  is  not  easy  to 
find  a  location  which  shall  combine  convenience, 
beauty,  air  and  water  drainage,  and  healthfulness 
all  in  the  highest  degree.  In  the  case  of  the 
farmer,  convenience  as  to  carrying  on  the  vari- 
ous operations  of  the  farm  and  healthfulness 
are  paramount.  Drainage  may  be  artificially 
improved,  vistas  opened,  miniature  lakes  con- 
structed, and  surroundings  made  more  beautiful. 
The  farm  and  its  equipment  is  the  workshop, 
and  must  be  convenient  in  all  its  appointments, 
or  much  energy  is  spent  for  naught ;  health 
must  be  maintained  at  the  highest,  or  work 
may  become  but  toil  and  drudgery. 

In  locating  a  house,  its  relation  to  the  size 
of  the  farm,  its  productiveness  and  agricultural 
capabilities  should  be  considered.  In  locating 
the  site,  two  places  should  be  carefully  avoided: 
First,  at  the  end  of  a  long  lane  in  the  middle 
of  the  farm.  It  may  be  said  that  the  buildings 
form  the  natural  nucleus   in  and  around  which 


Conditions   Affecting   Location  83 

the  work  centers,  and  therefore  they  should  be 
placed  near  the  middle  of  the  estate.  But  the 
work  carried  on  in  the  fields  forms  but  a  small 
part  of  the  farmer's  activities.  He  must 
ever,  in  these  modern  times,  be  in  touch  with 
the  school,  the  church,  the  post  office,  the  rail- 
way, the  niarket,  and  his  neighbors.  When  an 
infrequent  call  is  made  at  the  end  of  this  long 
lane,  the  children  appear  like  frightened  deer  as 
they  seek  shelter  in  the  shrubbery  or  behind  the 
corner  of  a  building,  and  the  more  the  in- 
herited timidity  and  reserve,  the  wilder  they 
appear. 

The  other  location  to  be  avoided  is  within  a 
few  feet  of  the  highway.  Such  locations  are 
only  admissible  in  the  city,  where  land  sells  by 
the  square  foot.  What  fortunes  are  sometimes 
spent  in  the  city  to  secure  some  amplitude  of 
space  between  the  dusty,  noisy  street  and  the 
residence  !  What  dignity  and  repose  an  ample, 
well  kept  house-yard  gives  to  even  a  plain, 
modest  house !  The  effect  of  the  mistake  of 
locating  the  house  too  close  to  the  highway  is 
often  accentuated  by  locating  the  barns  on  the 
other  side  and  immediately  upon  the  highway, 
and  in  front  of  the  house.  The  location  of  the 
house,  as  to  the  highway,  should  be  governed, 
in  part,  by  the  size  and  productive  power  of  the 
farm.     If  ample  acres  and   means  are  available, 


84  The   Farmstead 

then  the  grounds  should  be  ample  ;  if  limited, 
the  grounds  should  be  made  to  correspond. 

In  moderate-sized  holdings,  a  clear  space  of 
from  100  to  200  feet  between  the  house  and  the 
highway,  and  width  equal  to  or  exceeding  the 
length,  will  give  room  for  a  few  shade  trees  and 
an  ample  grass  plat.  The  site  should  be  either 
suited  to  the  house  or  the  house  to  the  site. 
Therefore,  the  character  of  the  proposed  house 
and  the  site  should  be  considered  at  the  same 
time.  One  location  may  be  suited  to  a  one- 
story,  another  to  a  two -story  house.  No  loca- 
tion is  suited  to  a  story-and-a-half  house. 

It  may  be  said  that  on  most  farms  the  house 
is  already  located,  and  has  grouped  around  it 
plantations  and  barns.  In  many  cases  it  would 
be  inexpedient  to  change  the  site  of  the  house, 
as  this  would  necessitate  many  changes  of  out- 
buildings and  other  permanent  improvements. 
But  if  a  careful  inspection  is  made  of  farm- 
steads, it  will  appear  that  many  of  the  houses 
are  in  need  of  repairs  and  additions,  and  that 
the  cost  of  making  them  would  be  but  slightly 
increased  if  either  the  house  or  the  outbuildings 
were  removed  to  a  more  desirable  site.  In  the 
great  majority  of  cases,  the  old  barns  should  be 
gathered  together  into  one  structure,  or  into  two 
at  most,  and  adapted  to  the  needs  of  modern 
agriculture    (as    will    be    explained    in    a    subse- 


Mortgages   and    Old   Houses  85 

quent  chapter).  All  changes  presuppose  well 
matured  plans  and  long  and  careful  study  of 
problems  which  will  have  to  be  solved  if  the 
location  of  the  house  or  barn  is  changed. 

The  scope,  and  particularly  the  cost,  of  the 
changes  should  be  known  approximately  before 
the  execution  of  the  plan  begins.  "  For  which 
of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not 
down  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether  he  have 
sufficient  to  finish  it?  Lest  haply  after  he  hath 
laid  the  foundation,  and  is  not  able  to  finish  it, 
all  that  behold  it  begin  to  mock  him,  saying, 
this  man  began  to  build  and  was  not  able  to 
finish."  Far  better  live  in  the  old  house,  with 
its  inconveniences,  and  get  the  greatest  possible 
happiness  out  of  the  ancient  structure,  than  to 
build  a  new  one  and  cover  it  with  shining  paints 
of  many  colors  and  a  mortgage  which  sticks 
longer  than  the  paints. 

Some  of  these  old  farm  houses  embody  many 
beautiful  and  reposeful  characteristics,  are  well 
located,  and  need  only  slight  modifications  to 
make  them  fit  the  site  as  nicely  as  a  bird  fits 
its  nest.  If  thought  can  be  awakened  as  to 
the  possibilities  of  these  neglected  homes  and 
some  information  imparted  as  to  their  treatment, 
or,  in  other  words,  if  the  eyes  and  understand- 
ing can  be  trained  to  take  in  the  fundamental 
principles  of  beauty,  dignity,  fitness,  and  repose, 


86  The   Farmstead 

we  shall  soon  see  fewer  architectural  monstrosi- 
ties. That  there  are  not  more  is  a  wonder. 
What  lad  or  lass  has  ever  had  the  slightest 
instruction  by  teacher  in  rural  or  city  school 
along  the  lines  of  fitness,  beauty,  and  health- 
fulness  of  sites  for  country  homes  ?  The  few 
youths  who  reach  the  institutions  of  higher 
learning  are  scarcely  better  off.  Some  of  these 
are  taught  to  see  the  beauties  and  wonders  of 
nature  through  a  microscope,  and,  in  rare 
cases,  one  may  be  taught  to  observe  the  lines 
of  symmetry  and  form  as  exhibited  in  a  poor 
plaster  cast  of  some  mythological  Roman  war- 
rior; but  as  for  any  instruction  which  leads 
directly  to  a  broad  understanding  or  keen  ap- 
preciation of  nature  in  her  broader,  happier,  and 
grander  aspects,  it  is  painfully  conspicuous  by 
its  absence.  So,  is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
farmer  is  deficient  in  appreciation  of  the  fitness 
and  beauty  of  the  tree -clad,  gently  rolling 
plateau  for  a  home  site,  when  the  "liberally" 
educated  fail  to  see  the  innumerable  beauty- 
spots  which  cover  the  face  of   nature? 


CHAPTER   VII 

PLANNING   BUBAL    BUILDINGS 

The  farm  house  is  not  what  is  called  a 
"  paying  investment. "  It  is  not  a  direct  source 
of  income ;  neither  can  the  other  rural  build- 
ings be  said  to  produce  a  direct  income.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  the  farm  house  can  fulfil  but 
four  purposes  if  properly  planned  and  well  con- 
structed :  the  house  may  serve  to  keep  the 
family  warm  in  cold  weather,  cool  in  hot 
weather,  dry  in  wet  weather,  and  to  gratify  a 
love  for  the  beautiful.  Since  the  farm  house  as 
a  paying  investment  is  usually  a  failure,  if  it 
does  not  supply  the  wants  of  the  household  and 
fulfil  its  object,  it  becomes  a  failure  indeed. 
The  first  great  mistake  which  the  prosperous 
farmer  usually  makes  is  to  invest  too  much 
money  in  expensive,  hastily  planned  buildings. 
The  house  should  be  built  to  serve  its  inmates ;  too 
often  the  inmates  become  the  servants  of  the  house. 
A  farmer's  wife  cannot  well  afford  to  devote  one 
room  in  the  overcrowded  house  to  the  storage  of 
expensive,  useless  upholstery  and  bric-a-brac, 
nor  time  to  keep  them  presentable  and  in  order 

(87) 


88  The    Farmstead 

The  debt  incurred  for  a  part  of  the  purchase 
price  of  the  farm  forbids  the  employment  of 
help  to  keep  in  order  this  home  museum  of 
things  useful  and  beautiful,  and  things  useless 
and  ugly.  If  plainness,  durability,  and  natural 
beauty  in  parlor,  sitting-room  and  chamber 
would  only  become  fashionable,  what  a  burden 
would  be  removed  from  the  shoulders  of  house- 
wives, both  in  country  and  city  !  The  time  is 
at  hand  when  health  and  intelligence  should 
count  for  more  among  American  women  than 
show  and  the  possession  of  a  miniature  uphol- 
stery shop.  The  furnishings  of  the  rooms  should 
minister  to  the  comfort  of  their  owner,  and  not 
tend  to  make  life  burdensome. 

Not  infrequently  farmers  of  energy  and 
ability  become  possessed  of  more  than  a  compe- 
tence near  the  close  of  life.  Having  lived  in 
somewhat  restricted  circumstances,  they  think 
to  make  the  close  of  life  more  comfortable  and 
luxurious.  So,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
most  of  the  children  have  left  the  paternal  roof, 
they  set  about  building  a  large  house,  tear  down 
or  remodel,  and  add  to  the  outbuildings;  and  at 
the  close  of  life  they  leave  the  possessions  en- 
cumbered and  a  farm  overloaded  with  buildings 
as  an  inheritance  to  a  child  unable,  by  reason 
of  youth  and  inexperience,  to  secure  a  com- 
petence sufficient  to  live  and  keep  up  repairs. 


Expensive    Building 


89 


A  beautiful  farm  of  180  acres,  in  centra] 
New  York,  is  provided  with  the  following  build- 
ings: 


Fig.  8. 

The  buildings  on  a 

180-acre  farm. 


Jk 


ED 


n 


32XW 


4ox8o 


30X80 


A    house,    part    2-,    and    part  1%-story,  110 

feet  long. 
A  horse  barn,  30  by  80  feet. 
A  grain  barn,  40  by  80  feet. 
A  straw  shed,  20  by  30  feet. 
A  machinery  and  husking  barn,  20  by  80  feet. 
A  hay  barn,  16  by  30  feet . 


90 


The   Farmstead 


A  cart  shed  and  chicken  honse,  20  by  24  feet. 

A  piggery,  20  by  24  feet. 

A  corn  crib,  12  by  18  feet. 

A  carriage  house,  24  by  32  feet. 


Fig.  9.    The  farm  house  that  is  too  big  for  the  farm. 

Some  of  this  lay-out  is  shown  in  Figures  8, 
9,  and  10.  These  buildings  could  not  have  cost 
less  than  $15,000.  A  fair  valuation  of  the  farm 
at  the  present  time  would  be  $14,000  to  $16,000. 
The  family  which  now  occupies  the  house  con- 
sists of  man  and  wife,  one  child,  and  two 
regular   employes,    one   of    whom   has    his    own 


The    Old   Farm   House 


91 


home.  The  father  overloaded  the  farm  with 
buildings,  his  son  is  struggling  to  keep  them  in 
repair,  and  the  wife  labors  to  keep  unused  rooms 
presentable.  These  buildings  might  well  serve 
for  a  section  of  land  and  a  family  of  twenty. 


Fig.  10.    Scattered  farm  buildings. 

Another  house  not  far  from  this  one  was 
built  nearly  a  century  ago  (Fig.  11).  If  the 
upper  story  was  a  full  instead  of  a  half- story, 
it  would  fulfil  all  the  demands  of  a  house,  ex- 
cept possibly  beauty.  It  stands  on  a  rather 
steep  front  slope,  which  stops  abruptly  on  the 
shore  of  one  of  our  beautiful  inland  lakes  (Fig. 


92 


The    Farmstead 


12) .  By  reason  of  the  steep  incline  at  the  front 
of  the  house,  a  tall  building  would  be  far  less 
beautiful  than  this  lean-to,  severely  plain  struc- 
ture. This  simple  old  house  has  a  restful, 
almost    beautiful    appearance     when    viewed    in 


Fig.  11.    A  cosy  farm  house. 

conjunction  with  the  trees,  the  steep,  sloping 
lawn,  and  the  broad,  placid  lake.  The  shaded 
veranda  gives  the  idea  of  social  repose  far  more 
than  does  the  formal,  stiff,  restricted  one  shown 
in  Fig.  9,  which  has  scarcely  room  for  two  easy 
chairs,    and    is    so    constructed  that    no    grateful 


The    Size   of  the   Mouse 


93 


shade  is  secured.  Woe  be  to  the  man  who  de- 
stroys this  restful  old  house  and  substitutes  for 
it  a  lofty,  narrow -waisted  one  adorned  with  peaks 
and  spires,  bay  windows  and  a  filigree  cornice  ! 
Before  ground  is   broken  for  the  foundation, 


Fig.  12.    The  lake  view  in  front  of  the  house. 


carefully  considered  plans  suited  to  the  site,  the 
size  and  productiveness  of  the  farm,  and  the 
probable  income,  should  have  been  made.  It 
may  be  said  that  the  size  of  the  house  should 
be  governed  by  the  size,  or  the  probable  size, 
of   the   family.      But   "  it  is    better  to   dwell   in 


94  The    Farmstead 

the  corner  of  the  house-top  than  in  a  wide 
house "  with  insufficient  means  to  maintain  it. 
The  general  plans  should  be  outlined  at  least 
a  year  before  a  new  building  or  extensive  en- 
largement of  the  old  is  begun.  The  houses 
which  are  to  be  built  in  the  future  should  be 
planned  with  a  view  to  greater  economy,  con- 
venience, beauty,  and  durability.  There  is  now 
little  excuse  for  erecting  poor,  uncomfortable, 
inconvenient  houses  on  the  farm.  True,  the 
rural  population  is  handicapped,  for  few  city 
architects  have  made  any  study  of  the  plain 
rural  house,  and  fewer  have  paid  any  atten- 
tion whatever  to  farm  barn  construction.  Even 
if  architects  had  given  attention  to  the  needs  of 
the  rural  population,  the  farmer  would  feel 
that  he  could  hardly  afford  to  pay  $100  to 
$200  for  the  plans  of  a  house  costing  $1,000 
to  $2,000,  exclusive  of  the  labor  which  the 
owner,  his  men  and  teams  were  able  to  per- 
form upon  it.  The  task  of  planning  a  country 
house  is  too  great  for  the  country  carpenter ; 
he  cannot  even  interpret  plans  correctly ;  his 
range  of  observation  and  training  have  been 
too  limited.  Then,  who  is  to  plan  the  house  ? 
Why,  the  farmer  and  his  family,  and  it  will 
take  at  least  two  years  of  study  and  obser- 
vation of  other  houses  and  their  modern  con- 
veniences    before    intelligent,    crude    plans    and 


Useless    Cost 


95 


instructions   are  ready  to  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of   the    draughtsman. 

Few   persons    are    original ;    therefore,  if    the 
little   conveniences  which  help    to    lighten   work 


Fig.  13.    A  house  of  seven  gables. 

and  make  life  more  pleasurable  are  to  find  a 
place  in  the  house,  they  must  be  seen  in  other 
houses.  All  men  have  more  ideas  than  any  one 
man ;  therefore,  the  range  of  study  should  be 
wide,  that  whatever  is  suitable  to  the  condi- 
tions may  be  adopted.  After  having  built  many 
farm  houses  and  barns,  and  having  made  a 
long  and  most  careful  study  of  them,  I  esti- 
mate that  from  30  to  40  per  cent  of  the  cost 
of  farm  buildings  is  useless,  and  sometimes 
worse   than   thrown    away. 


96 


The    Farmstead 


A  small  farm  house  on  a  modest- sized  farm 
is  shown  in  Fig.  13.  The  site  is  beautiful,  and 
is  worthy  of  a  house  better  fitted  to  the  situa^ 
tion,  the  farm,  and  the  farmer.  The  illustration 
shows  seven  gables,  and  the  house,  therefore, 
might  serve  as  a  model  for  a  work  of  fiction ; 
but  the  left-hand  side  of  the  house  is  like  unto 
the  right-hand  side,  so  it  will  not  do  for  fiction, 
for  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  there  are  eleven 
gables  and  twenty- two  valleys  on  this  house. 

The  vine -covered  veranda  is  most  beautiful, 
and  looks  cool  and  comfortable,  but  there  are 
too  many  vines,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few    days    in   summer   at  midday,  the   air  under 

this  veranda  would  be 
damp  and  uncomfor- 
table. It  is  far  better 
to  secure  shade  by 
means  of  awnings  and 
a  few  tall,  well  trim- 
med shade  trees,  which 
=f  preclude  dampness  and 
*  permit  air  drainage, 
than  to  overburden  the 

Fig.  14.    Filigree  work  is  expensive,  and 

does  not  look  well  on  a  farm  house.  Verailda        with       VmeS. 

The  covering  of  this  veranda  is  an  unprotected 
floor,  and  extends  along  the  front  and  well 
around  both  sides.  Notice  the  too  expensive 
balustrade  and  frequent  fancy  posts,  an  enlarged 


Expense   of  Maintenance 


97 


section  of  which  is   shown  in  Fig.    14.      All    of 
this   expensive  wooden    material    is    exposed    to 


Fig.  15.    Ground  plan  of  a  house  which  is  out  of  character  on  a  farm. 

our  ever -changeful,  paint -destroying  climate. 
The  tinsmith,  the  painter,  and  the  carpenter 
will    reap    a   rich   harvest  if    the    external    part 


G 


98 


The   Farmstead 


of  this  house  is  kept  in  order.  It  seems  hardly- 
necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  chambers, 
which,  of  necessity,  must  be  of  such  a  character 
as   to   preclude  comfort,  beauty  and  repose. 

A  house  built  after  the  ground  plan,  Fig. 
15,  might  make  a  not  unpleasing  picture  in 
the  landscape,  but  it  would  not  be  appropriate 
for  the  farm,  and  would  be  unnecessarily  ex- 
pensive in  construction  and  maintenance.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  heat,  on  account  of  the 
great    surface   exposure   due   to   the    broken   out- 


Fig.  16.    A  good  model  for  a  farm  house,  having  strong  lines  and  much  character. 

lines  and  numerous  corners,  which  are  seldom 
air-tight.  The  style  might  not  be  altogether 
inappropriate    for   a   cheap    seaside    cottage. 


Shape   of  Farm   Rouses 


99 


A  rear  view  of  a  somewhat  larger  house  is 
given  (Fig.  16) .  It  would  not  cause  the  pass- 
erby  to    stop  and   stare.      It  may    be    compared 


\ 


■3?'- 


Fig.  17.    Ground  plan  of  the  house  shown  in  Figs.  16  and  19. 

to  a  well,  appropriately,  and  simply  dressed  lady, 
while  the  other  is  a  reminder  of  the  over-dressed, 
furbelowed  damsel,  who  attracts  the  prolonged 
stare  and  the  thoughtless  comments  of  every 
sidewalk   idler.     Here   are    seen   repose,  beauty, 


100  The   Farmstead 

elements  of  durability,  and  freedom  from  ex- 
pensive   ornamentation    and   repairs. 

A  back  view  of  this  house  has  been  shown 
purposely  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  rear 
side  of  a  house  may  be  made  nearly  as  beauti- 
ful as  the  front  side.  It  would  be  improved  both 
in  looks  and  convenience  if  a  partially  enclosed 
porch  were  placed  over  the  door  and  two  of  the 
windows. 

The  planning  of  a  house  is  not  difficult  if 
wants  are  clearly  defined  and  the  principles  of 
economy,  dignity,  durability  and  repose,  as  ap- 
plied to  the  exterior  of  the  house,  are  fairly 
well  understood.  If  the  site  is  ample,  and  it 
always  is  in  the  country,  you  have  but  to  draw 
a  rectangle,  the  length  of  which  is  one- third  to 
one-fourth  longer  than  its  breadth.  Fig.  17  is  a 
ground  plan  of  the  house  shown  in  Fig.  16. 

The  farm  house  shown  in  Fig.  18  is  located 
thirty  feet  from  a  dusty,  muddy,  much -traveled 
public  highway.  Opposite  to  it,  and  immediately 
on  the  road,  are  located  the  ill -kept  farm  build- 
ings. How  the  aromas  of  the  stables  and  kitchen 
are  to  be  kept  each  on  its  respective  side  of 
the  road  is  a  question  difficult  to  solve.  Here, 
as  in  so  many  cases,  the  wife  showed  better 
training  and  more  commendable  pride  in  her 
surroundings  and  her  workshop  than  the  hus- 
band.    She   may   coax   him   some    day  to   set   a 


Mistakes   in   Locating 


101 


few  trees,  which  may  serve 

in    part  to  hide  his    work-  ^ 

shop    on    the    other    side.  Z 

There     are     many     things  ' 

abont     this      farm      honse  ® 

which     are     commendable,  | 

and    the     only    wonder    is  s; 

that   so  few  mistakes  were  | 

made     in     planning     it.  g 

Farmers'  wives   must  have  ^ 

a  sort  of  natural  intuition  ;  ° 

how  else   can  the    fewness  I 

of    their    mistakes   be    ex-  | 

plained,  for  they  have  sel-  | 

dom  received   the  slightest  I 

instruction  along  the  lines  | 

of     house -building.     True,  £• 

the  tower  on  the   corner  is  | 

expensive    and   inappropri-  | 

ate,  but  if    the   house   had  •"* 

an    appropriate    setting   of  g* 

trees    and  shrubs    it  might  | 

-be   beautiful.  s' 

p 

The  farm  house   should  | 

have    one    large    bed- room  g 

on   the    first    floor,   a    well  < 
appointed  kitchen  and  liv- 
ing room.     When  the  size, 
number,  and  arrangement  of J  the  other  rooms  are 


102  The    Farmstead 

fixed,  the  lines  which  bound  the  outside  of  the 
rooms  will  not,  of  necessity,  always  coincide  with 
the  rectangular  lines.  On  one  side  the  house  may 
extend  slightly  over,  on  another  fall  short  of 
the  lines  which  bound  the  rectangle.  Does  the 
rectangle  embody  fitness  and  beauty?  If  the 
manufactured  things  by  which  we  are  surrounded 
are  noted,  it  will  be  seen  how  many  of  them 
are  rectangular.  The  book,  the  sheet  of  paper, 
the  pamphlet,  the  photograph,  the  picture  frame 
on  the  wall,  the  rug  on  the  floor,  the  writing 
case,  the  chiffonier,  the  trunk,  and  thousands  of 
objects  of  use  and  beauty  naturally  take  the 
rectangular  form  :  then  why  not  the  house  ? 
Man  constructs  along  the  lines  of  acute,  obtuse, 
and  right  angles  unless  there  are  specific  reasons 
for  adopting  curves,  while  nature's  modes  adhere 
closely  to  circular  and  curved  outlines. 

A  front  view  of  a  substantial,  appropriate 
house  fronting  to  the  west  is  shown  in  Fig.  19. 
It  is  the  house  of  which  a  rear  view  is  shown 
in  Fig.  16.  The  wide,  projecting  eaves,  the 
simple  roof  over  the  second- story  windows,  and 
the  plain  veranda,  all  protect  the  windows  from 
storm  and  the  glaring  afternoon  sun.  The  eave- 
trough  near  the  edge  of  the  roof  serves  to  relieve 
the  plainness  of  the  projecting  roof,  which  really 
has  no  cornice.  The  side  and  ends  of  some  of 
the  rafters  are  seen,  and  no   attempt  has  been 


Shading   the    Veranda 


103 


made  to  box  them  in.  The  treatment  is  digni- 
fied, plain,  inexpensive,  and  suitable, — there- 
fore it  is  beautiful.  The  planting  at  the  left  is 
too    thick   for  any  but   a  dry  climate.     A  lofty 


Fig  19.    A  dignified,  restful,  economical  house. 

elm  tree  would  serve  better  for  shading  the  ve- 
randa in  the  late  afternoon,  and  permit  of  better 
air  drainage.  The  trees  shown  are  deciduous, 
and  therefore  cannot  form  an  ideal  winter  wind- 
break. If  they  were  evergreens  they  would  be 
entirely  too  close  to  the  house.  The  mournful 
sighing  of  evergreen  trees  in  the  bleak  November 
winds  does  not  promote  cheerfulness. 


104 


The   Farmstead 


Four  college  buildings  are  shown  in  Figs.  20, 
21,  23,  and  24.  School  buildings  can  hardly  be 
said  to  be  a  part  of  the  farm  lay-out,  but  they 
will    serve    quite    as   well    as    farm   buildings    to 


Fig.  20-    University  building,— gray  stone  and  tile  roof. 

educate  the  taste  and  to  train  the  eye  and  the 
judgment.  The  reader  will  see  at  once  which 
two  of  these  buildings  are  most  dignified  and 
pleasing. 

In  the  schools,  the  people  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts have  had  no  instruction  which  would  lead 
them  to  carefully  observe  and  compare  buildings 
of  any  kind;  and  hence,  with  but  rare  excep- 
tions, they  are  ill -qualified  to  make  an  intelligent 
study  of  them.  They  are  totally  unprepared  to 
grasp   the    fundamental    principles  which    should 


School   Buildings 


105 


govern  the  erection  of  structures  on  the  farm, 
and  totally  ignorant  of  the  principles  to  be  ob- 
served when  large  public  buildings  are  planned 
and  erected.  Fortunately  or  unfortunately,  some 
farmers  will  be  called  upon  to  judge  of  the 
plans  for  'school  and  other  public  buildings. 
The  plans  for  a  president's  house  and  an  ex- 
pensive college  building  were  submitted  to  a 
board  of  thirteen  trustees  of  a  flourishing  agri- 
cultural college.  Ten  of  these  trustees  were 
farmers  of  more  than  local  reputation.  I  for- 
bear  giving   illustrations    of   the    results :   suffice 


Fig.  21.    University  building,— red  brick  and  slate  roof. 

it    to    say,    that    happily   the    house    fell    down 
before   it   was    roofed   in. 

A    school   building   for   the   higher    education 
should   be   light  and    airy;     but    light    does    not 


106  The    Farmstead 

enter  a  building  freely  through  narrow  windows 
placed  in  thick  stone  or  brick  walls.  Fig.  22 
shows  the  effect  of  narrow  and  wide  windows 
in  the  lighting  of  a  building.  Observe  the 
shadow  cast  by  the  wall  between  the  two  nar- 
row windows.  The  sun  is  directly  in  front  of 
the  windows  for  but  a  small  part  of  the  day. 
Usually  it  enters  at  a  more  or  less  acute  angle, 


..,.     .     ..     ,;; 


''llllll,,,, 


Fig.  22.    Showing  the  greater  proportionate  amount  of  light  admited  by  one  broad 
window,  as  compared  with  two  narrow  ones  of  equal  combined  opening. 

in  which  case  a  window  three  feet  wide  may 
be  more  than  twice  as  efficient  in  lighting  a 
room  as  one  two  feet  wide,  and  a  four- foot 
window  three  or  four  times  as  efficient  as  one 
half   its   width. 

Figs.  20,  21,  23,  and  24  serve  to  illustrate 
some  of  the  fundamental  principles  which  should 
be  observed  in  constructing  expensive  public 
buildings,  and    they   may    also    serve   for  com- 


Combine   Beauty   and    Utility 


107 


parison,  and  for  educating  the  eye  and  the  judg- 
ment. The  knowledge  acquired  in  a  study  of 
these  buildings  may  be  useful  in  the  planning 
and  erection  of  rural  homes,  for  in  some  re- 
spects all  buildings  should  be  alike.     The  farmer 


Fig.  23.     University  laboratories, —  red  brick  and  slate  roof. 

seldom  has  opportunity  to  contrast  and  study 
large  detached  buildings  in  which  beauty,  dig- 
nity, durability,  and,  above  all,  utility,  are  com- 
bined, and  he  seldom  plans  and  erects  more 
than  one  homestead  ;  therefore,  many  buildings 
should  be  observed,  the  desirable  and  undesir- 
able features  noted  and  discussed  thoroughly 
before  the  erection  of   a  new  structure,  however 


108 


The    Farmstead 


simple  it  may  be,  is  begun.  It  requires  no 
little  knowledge  to  construct  in  the  best  man- 
ner   even    a   modern    chicken    house. 

The  consideration  of  these  four  school  build- 


Fig.  24.    University  building,— gray  stone  and 


slate  roof. 


ings,  so  different  in  character,  may  not  be  dis- 
missed at  once.  They  are  introduced  for  the 
purpose  of  arousing  interest  and  for  giving 
opportunity  to  study  the  principles  of  external 
construction.  The  true  principles  once  mastered, 
their  application  to  rural  homes  will  not  be  dif- 
cult.  If  Fig.  20  be  studied  carefully,  it  will  be 
noticed  that  the  lines  are  dignified,  restful  and 
even   beautiful,  although    the    building    is    con- 


Peaks   and    Valleys  109 

structed  on  straight  lines,  with  little  attempt 
at  ornamentation..  This  building  is  sometimes 
taken  for  an  art  gallery,  and  so  it  is,  for  in 
it  is  taught  the  fine  art  of  butter  making.  Its 
strong  tile  roof,  ample  projection  of  eaves,  and 
freedom  frpm  peaks  and  valleys  give  assurance 
that  this  building,  barring  accidents,  will  stand 
for  centuries  with  slight  repair,  and  be  more 
beautiful  as  time  tones  down  and  softens  the 
colors. 

The  building  shown  in  Fig.  21  satisfies 
neither  eye  nor  judgment.  It  is  a  noble  build- 
ing as  to  size  and  material,  but  are  not  the 
twenty  miniature  peaks  out  of  place?  It  does 
not  have  the  appearance  of  a  restful  school 
building,  but  of  a  mammoth  seaside  hotel.  The 
many  little  gables  might  have  been  combined 
into  a  few  large,  noble  ones,  which  would  have 
given  abundant  light  and  lent  dignity  and 
charm  to  this  well  built  structure.  If  we  now 
transfer  our  thought  from  the  large  buildings 
to  the  brick  dwelling  house  (Fig.  25),  we  find 
the  same  strong  lines,  the  same  dignity,  and 
the  same  durability  of  roof  structure,  with  a 
little  added  ornamentation,  as  are  found  in  some 
school  buildings.  It  should  have  been  two- story 
instead  of  a  story  and  a  half,  and  the  veranda 
might  well  have  been  more  ample.  This  house, 
too,  like   the    large    stone    structure    (Fig.  20)  is 


110 


The   Farmstead 


restful  and  satisfying.  One  instinctively  sees 
that  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  this  durable 
structure  will  be  comparatively  little.  If  this 
house  be  compared  with  the  one  shown  in  Fig. 
26,  it  will  be  easily  seen  how  much  more  ap- 
propriate   and   beautiful   it   is.     One   is    built  of 


Fig.  25.    A  simple  and  attractive  little  dwelling  house. 

cream  brick  and  roofed  with  soft- colored  tile  ; 
the  other  is  roofed  with  poor  shingles,  has  a 
cheap  hemlock  frame,  and  is  sided  with  wood, 
which  is  covered  with  gaudy,  ready  mixed  earth 
paints,  which  may  fade  out  before  the  bill  for 
them   is   paid. 

Some    day   a    genius   will    set   forth   for   the 


Nature   Study 


111 


farmer,  in  simple  language  and  illustrations, 
the  fundamental  principles  which  should  be  fol- 
lowed in  the  building  of  rural  homes.  When 
that  time  comes  the  present  children  will  then 
be  mature  and  will  have  been  so  energized  by 
nature -study  work,  which    is    now    being    intro- 


Fig.  26.    Another  type  of  dwelling  house. 

duced  so  extensively  in  the  schools,  as  to  be 
able  to  appreciate  and  profit  by  such  literature. 
Some  of  the  tree -embowered  farm  houses 
have  such  a  restful  look  and  often  embody 
such  true  lines  of  beauty  that  it  seems  almost 
sacrilegious  to  change  them.  On  the  other 
hand,    some    of    them     are    so    ill     adapted     to 


112  The   Farmstead 

farm  life,  so  unhandy  and  uncomfortable,  that 
radical  changes  should  be  made.  After  the 
farmer  has  prospered,  he  naturally  has  a  desire 
to  build  a  new  house  or  to  transform  the  old 
one,  not  only  to  secure  needed  conveniences, 
but  that  greater  beauty  and  a  more  luxurious 
home  may  be  secured.  It  is  difficult  for  him 
to  find  adequate  help  to  solve  the  problem  if 
he  keeps  the  cost  within  reasonable  limits.  He 
may  know  where  to  begin ;  he  seldom  knows 
where  he  will  end.  Usually  the  first  thought 
should  be  to  preserve  the  old  home,  or  the 
greater  part  of  it.  The  architect  is  almost 
certain  to  advise  demolition  and  the  erection 
of  a  new  house,  asserting  that  the  new  struc- 
ture will  be  no  more  expensive  than  the  re- 
modeling of  the  old,  which  may  or  may  not 
be  true.  But  he  does  not  always  know  what 
is  best,  as  he  is  usually  unfamiliar  with  the 
farmers'  needs  and  traditions.  Sacred  associa- 
tions usually  cluster  round  the  old  farm  house  ; 
every  room  and  door  and  window  may  be  asso- 
ciated with  some  epoch  in  life's  history.  Through 
yonder  door  came  the  happy  bride  a  half  cen- 
tury ago ;  in  yonder  room  the  children  were 
born ;  —  every  nook  and  corner  has  some  tale 
to  tell,  some  happy  association.  We  cross 
oceans  and  mountains  to  view  the  birthplaces 
and    homes    (which   happily  sometimes  are  pre- 


Preserve    the    Old   Rouse  113 

served  and  held  sacred)  of  a  Burns  and  a 
Shakespeare.  Then  is  it  not  well  to  preserve 
the  farm  houses,  where  possibly  are  the  birth- 
places of  many  "  Cromwells  guiltless  of  their 
country's    blood." 

The  fir§t  thought,  then,  should  be  to  save 
and  improve  the  old  house,  not  to  destroy  it. 
But  most  of  these  farm  houses  are  either  too 
low  or  too  high:  that  is,  they  are  neither  one- 
nor  two-storied,  but  a  story  and  a  half.  A 
two -story  wing  may  often  be  placed  either  at 
the  front  or  side,  and  may  serve  to  give  dignity 
to  the  house;  or  a  lower  room  or  two,  a  few 
comfortable  chambers,  and  an  entrance  hall  or 
vestibule  may  be  added.  Such  addition  would 
make  it  possible  to  remove  the  low,  flat -roofed, 
leaky  kitchen  to  more  appropriate  quarters. 
The  formerly  unused  parlor  might  be  trans- 
formed into  a  living-room,  the  former  living- 
room  into  a  dining-room,  and  the  old  dining- 
room  into  a  kitchen.  The  details  by  which 
this  evolution  is  made  must,  of  necessity,  be 
worked  out  by  those  who  are  to  occupy  the 
house.  That  home  is  enjoyed  best  which  is 
planned  by  those  who  have  to  pay  the  bills ; 
therefore,  I  shall  not  go  into  detail  of  arrange- 
ment. My  object  will  have  been  accomplished 
if  I  succeed  in  creating  a  greater  respect  and 
love  for  the  houses   of  our  ancestors,  and  shall 


114  The   Farmstead 

have  stayed  the  hand  of  the  iconoclast.  Any 
one  can  destroy,  but  few  can  create. 

So  reasoned  the  college  graduate  on  his  re- 
turn to  the  old  homestead.  The  old  house  (Fig. 
27)  was  improved  by  making  slight  additions 
and  some  minor  changes.  Even  the  green  win- 
dow blinds  and  the  white  siding  were  not  dis- 
turbed, only  brightened  by  the  use  of  old- 
fashioned,  unadulterated  paints.  The  major 
effort  was  along  the  line  of  improving  the  live 
stock  and  making  the  acres  more  productive, 
soon  resulting  in  surplus  funds,  which  were 
used  to  erect  the  large  and  commodious  barn. 
Simultaneously  with  the  barn  came  the  ice- 
house, and  the  windmill  for  pumping  water. 
The  observant  passer-by  instinctively  knows  that 
here  are  all  the  outward  indications  of  morality, 
intelligence,  and  a  rational  and  progressive  sys- 
tem of  agriculture.  If  the  family  be  judged  by 
what  is  seen  in  this  picture  of  the  farm  above 
ground,  the  conclusion  must  be  reached  that 
here  is  a  true  home. 

How  different  the  impression  is  when  we  look 
through  the  open  roadside  gate  in  the  next 
picture  (Fig.  28) !  Lack  of  intelligent  purpose 
and  of  neatness  and  thrift  is  written  upon  every 
structure,  and  is  especially  shown  by  the  want 
of  any  logical  plan  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
numerous    small   structures.      The   house,   which 


Fig.  27.    The  old  homestead. 


Fig.  28.    Lack  of  intelligent  purpose. 


116  The    Farmstead 

stands  just  to  the  right  of  the  beautiful  tree,  is 
modern  in  many  respects,  but  the  front  is  sup- 
ported by  numerous  Grecian  columns  nearly 
twenty  feet  long,  as  inappropriate  and  as  useless 
for  a  farm-house  as  is  a  coon's  tail  on  a 
lady's  hat. 

Instinctively  we  judge  people  at  first  sight, 
and  largely  by  the  clothes  they  wear  and  the 
manner  of  wearing  them.  So  we  judge,  and 
often  very  accurately,  of  families  by  the  houses 
which  shelter  them  and  the  objects  which  sur- 
round them.  One  can  easily  tell  much  of  the 
character  of  a  man  by  the  style  and  tip  of  his 
hat.  What  noble  deeds,  what  lofty  aspirations 
in  this  day  and  age  of  plenty  and  opportunity, 
should  we  expect  to  have  birth  and  fruition  in 
the  house  shown  in  illustration  Fig.  29!  This 
building  is  not  located  in  the  country,  but  in 
the  suburbs  of  a  small,  prosperous  inland 
city.  Unfortunately,  this  village  is  unlike  many 
beautiful  country  villages  and  small  cities  in 
western  New  York  in  which  there  are  no  poor 
people.  What  a  depressing  effect  this  building 
must  have  on  the  well  bred  country  lad  who 
passes  it  weekly  on  his  journey  to  and  from  the 
post  office  ! 

But  how  easy  to  go  from  one  extreme  to  the 
other !  Too  many  farm  houses  stand  alone, 
unrelieved    by  noble  trees   or  by  modest   plant- 


Planting   About    the   House 


111 


ing  of  appropriate  shrubbery,  looking  in  the 
distance  at  the  setting  sun  like  lofty,  white- 
washed sepulchres.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
house  may  be  made  dark  and  damp  by  over- 
planting.  ,  The  house  shown  in  Fig.  30  is  a 
comfortable,  fairly  attractive  stone  structure,  but 
is    made    gloomy  and    damp   by  the    superabun- 


Fig.  29.     Environment  often  makes  the  man. 

dance  of  evergreen  and  deciduous  trees  which 
fill  all  the  space,  barely  thirty  feet,  between  the 
house  and  the  highway. 

The  church,  as  well  as  the  farm  house,  is  or 
should  be  the  home  of  the  farmer  ;  but  the 
church,  like  the  individual,  may  become  proud, 
in  which  case  the  old  meeting-house  is  de- 
molished   and  replaced   by    a    modern  new  one, 


118  The   Farmstead 

which  may  serve  for  a  time  to  stimulate  lag- 
gards and  appear  to  take  the  place  of  changed 
purposes    in  life.     But  the  debt  saddled  on  the 


Fig.  30.    Buried  in  trees.    The  opposite  extreme  from  Fig.  26. 

congregation  tends  to  drive  the  church-goers  to 
the  rear  seats  and  eventually  out  of  doors.  I 
have  sometimes  thought  that  a  country  church 
could  not  well  be  too  small.  Man  is  a  grega- 
rious animal,  and  does  not  enjoy  church -going 
when  the  seats  are  but  partially  occupied. 

The  plain,  substantial  stone  church  shown  in 
Fig.  31  is  located  in  a  sparsely  settled  district 
on  the  windy  prairies  of  Kansas.  It  is  certainly 
most  appropriate  and  fits  its  environment  ;  all 
it  lacks  to  make  it  beautiful  is  a  suitable  setting 
of  trees  and  shrubbery.      It  would  then  serve  as 


Pioneers   and   Liberty 


119 


a  reminder  of  "  G-od's  first  temple  not  made 
with  hands/'  and  not  of  one  made  with  a 
jig-saw. 

"  It  is  a  plain,  rugged,  austere  structure,  like 
the  men  who  built  it,  and  any  proposal  to  mod- 
ernize it  'would  be  received  with   disfavor  ;    for 
it   means    more    to    the    people    than    merely    a 
church  building  —  it  is   a   sacred  possession  that 
is  a  part  of   their  life,"  and  it  is  an  appropriate 
monument    to    the    sturdy  religious    character  of 
the    pioneers    who    stood   in   the    forefront    as    a 
wall     guarding    human    rights    and    liberties    in 
those      stormy 
days  of  the  past. 
The       country 
church       should 
be    as     truly     a 
part  of  the  farm 
structure    as  are 
the     house     and 
barn,  located  on 
land  held  in  fee 
simple. 

The  school - 
house  also,  as  well  as  the  church,  should  form 
a  part  of  the  farm  above  ground.  We  some- 
times build  parlors  for  the  pictures,  and  pal- 
aces for  the  horses  and  cattle,  and  neglect 
the  school -house.     A  city  of   12,000  inhabitants 


J 


Fig.  31.     A  plain,  substantial  stone  church. 


jjt:^ 


Fig.  32.     Where  horses  are  kept. 


Fig.  33.     Where  boys  and  girls  are  taught. 


The    Stable    and    the    Schoolhouse  121 

in  central  New  York  has  many  expensive 
stables,  some  of  them  works  of  art.  The 
barn  shown  in  Fig.  32  is  not  more  than  half 
a  mile  from  the  school -house  shown  in  Fig. 
33.  The  beautiful  stable  might  serve  as  a 
well  appointed  dwelling  house  by  making  a  few 
minor  changes.  While  such  buildings  are  being 
constructed,  the  country  school -house,  the  pride 
of  the  American,  is  left  to  fall  into  decay; 
or,  if  rebuilt,  it  is  located  too  often  on  a  little 
scrap  of  land  which  may  be  almost  worthless, 
as  though  land  in  America  were  the  most 
precious  of  all  our  inheritance.  This  school- 
house  is  designed  to  provide  accommodations 
for  both  farm  and  city  children  living  in  the 
suburbs.  The  school -house  has  not  a  tree  for 
shade  nor  a  shrub  to  admire,  situated  on  the 
commons  among  weeds  and  rocks,  provided  with 
one  dilapidated  outhouse  unscreened  by  fence  or 
tree  or  vine  or  shrub,  while  the  stable  is  sur- 
rounded with  rare  trees  and  shrubs  artistically 
arranged  and  a  smoothly  shaven  lawn.  Are 
horses  and  cattle  worth  more  than  boys  and 
girls  ? 

To  leave  the  reader  to  infer  that  all  school- 
houses  are  like  the  one  shown  would  be 
misleading.  A  more  pleasing  illustration  is 
presented  in  Fig.  34.  Here  the  meeting-house, 
the    school -house,   and   a   bit   of    the   farm    are 


122  The   Farmstead 

shown  in  juxtaposition,  as  they  were  found  at 
the  meeting  of  the  roads  in  a  shady  grove. 
Since  moral  character  should  be  the  foundation 
upon  which  to  symmetrically  build  intelligence 
and  industry,  the  church  may  be  treated  first. 
While  taking  the  photograph,  I  was  struck  by 
the  inexpensive  character  of  the  meeting-house. 
The  outside  covering  was  of  plain,  matched, 
vertical  boards,  but  they  were  kept  well  painted 
and  therefore  looked  neat,  and  the  seats  were 
entirely  comfortable.  I  judge  that  here  true, 
practical  religion  finds  a  congenial  home,  for  a 
long  line  of  comfortable  sheds  were  being  built 
to  house  the  horses  during  the  hours  of  devo- 
tion. Then,  too,  the  s%eds  will  serve  a  doubly 
humane  purpose,  for  where  the  pupils  live  long 
distances  from  the  school  the  horse  driven  in 
the  morning  will  have  comfortable  quarters  until 
the  school  closes  in  the  evening.  A  public 
water-trough  near  by,  kept  full  from  a  spring, 
gave  evidence  that  this  little  church  and  the 
school -house  were  potent  factors  in  promoting 
civilization.  To  the  right  is  seen  a  lad  plow- 
ing. Here,  then,  in  this  picture  is  represented 
the  three  great  corner-stones  of  civilization  upon 
which  to  build  a  symmetrical,  beautiful  super- 
structure. To  build  on  either  one  alone  is  to 
insure  disappointment  ;  when  life  is  grounded 
on  all  three  the   result   is   practical  religion   and 


What   Farm   Life   Means  123 

intelligence  eventuating  in  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  complex  soil  and  the  interrelations  of 
nature's  modes  of  action.  It  means  steady  and 
effective  employment,  the  abandonment  of  no- 
madic life,  and  in  lieu  thereof  a  permanent 
home  and  an  abundant  supply  of  the  neces- 
saries   and    comforts    of    life.      The    Bible,    the 


Fig.  34.     School  house  and  church  at  the  corners. 

school  book,  and  the  plow  should  all  be  engraven 
and  intertwined  in  our  modern  civilization. 

So  far  the  general  characteristics,  fitness, 
durability  and  beauty  of  the  country  farm  house 
have  been  discussed  and  illustrated,  together 
with  such  public  buildings  as  are  directly  re- 
lated to  rural  life.  But  having  discussed  the 
size,  best  proportions,  and  most  suitable  ma- 
terials for  the  house,  and  having  put  them  into 


124 


The   Farmstead 


visible  form,  the  building  may  be  made  hideous 
and  unnecessarily  expensive  by  careless  or  igno- 
rant treatment  of  external  details. 

Most  of  the  farmers  who  now  occupy  the 
country  west  of  the  Alleghanies  came  from  the 
east  and  brought  with  them  a  varied  assortment 
of  styles  of  architecture  inherited  from  the 
many  European  countries  from  which  they  or 
their  ancestors  came.  These  people,  though  of 
limited  means,  had  pride  and  tenacity  of  pur- 
pose, and  they  could  not  easily  change  to  the 
plain  and  appropriate  exterior  treatment  of  the 
farm  house.  This  inheritance  and  persistence,  as 
shown  in  the  farm  houses  of  the  middle  states, 
is   fitly  illustrated   by   the    expensive  and  heavy 


Fig.  35.    The  sway-back  house. 


return  cornice,  the  massive  columns,  and  the 
complicated  and  ornate  entablatures  which  are 
supposed  to  adorn  an  otherwise  plain  house. 


Two   Serious   Mistakes 


125 


I  have  said  that  there  is  no  place  for  the 
story- and- a- half  house.  Here  is  shown  (Fig. 
35)   the    results   of   two    serious    mistakes;    viz., 


Fig.  36.    The  expensive  bos  cornice 


an  effort  to  build  a  cheap  frame  of  such  a  form 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  tie  the  building 
together,  with  the  result  that  the  roof  is  in 
danger  of  collapsing  ;  and  the  attempt  to 
beautify  this  cheap  structure  by  over-heavy, 
complicated  cornices.  An  enlarged  detailed  draw- 
ing of  a  typical  return  cornice  is  shown  in  Fig. 
36.  On  the  right  is  shown  a  cross- section  out- 
line of  the  members  of  the  cornice.  There  are 
ten  of  them.  The  mouldings  are  now  "  stuck  " 
by  machinery,  but  these  were  made  by  hand, 
and     10    and    8     were    formed    of     two     pieces 


126  The    Farmstead 

each,  making  twelve  members  in  all.  The  in- 
finite pains  and  labor  in  preparing  the  material 
and  placing  it  cannot  be  realized 
except  by  a  carpenter  who  has  spent 
weeks  and  months  in  sawing  out. 
in  planing  and  "sticking," 
and  mitering  such  an  elabo- 
rate system  of  useless  orna- 
mentation. Compare  this 
with  the  cornice,  or  rather 
,  projection,  of  a  house  (Fig. 
19)  which  cost  $6,000.  Fig. 
36  shows  a  projecting  eave  of  scarcely  one  foot. 
The  next  illustration  (Fig.  37)  shows  one  of 
nearly  two  feet.  The  latter  is  far  superior  to 
the  former  in  that  it  is  quite  as  beautiful,  is 
inexpensive,  and  protects  the  external  paint 
and  woodwork  far  more  than  does  the  former. 
The  piece  at  the  top  of  the  rafter  serves  to 
cover  the  projecting  cornice,  and  as  a  roof- 
board  as  well,  and  gives  opportunity  to  place 
the  eave  trough  well  outside,  which  prevents 
damage  to  the  house  should  it  ever  leak. 
The  frieze  board  is  simple  and  serves  its  pur- 
pose well.  It  has  taken  a  long  time  to  learn 
that  a  wooden  roof  which  is  at  least  one -third 
pitch  is  far  more  durable  than  the  flat  roof 
shown  in  Fig.  38.  Here  the  return  cornice  is 
carried  across  the  entire   end  of  the  house,  and 


Exposure   and   Decay 


127 


the  gable  is  ceiled  with  plain  matched  boards, 
both  likely  to  leak  and  to  rapidly  become 
paintless. 

Many  veranda  and  porch  floors  and  outside 
doors  have  no  roof  over  them,  or  other  protec- 
tion. This  is  poor  economy.  It  would  be  better 
to  reduce  the  cornice  to  the  fewest  possible 
members,  if  it  were  necessary  to  do  so,  in  order 
to  secure  means  to  roof  the  veranda,  which,  un- 
protected, decays  rapidly.  Or  the  money  ex- 
pended on  the  cornice,  which  results  in  neither 
use  nor  beauty,  might  well  suffice  for  the 
building  of  an  additional  room,  or  to  provide 
many  conveniences,  such  as  hot  and  cold  water, 
storm  sash,  and  window  screens. 

When  the  farmer  reached  the  fertile,  treeless 


Fig.  38.    The  old-time  gable  end  cornice. 


prairies  he  was  compelled  to  economize  in 
lumber.  Some  genius  soon  discovered  that  the 
best  and  most  scientific  method  of  constructing 


128 


The   Farmstead 


the  frame  of  a  house  was  along  the  lines  of  ship 
construction  (Fig.  39) :  that  is,  ribs,  joined  to 
a  sill  or  sills,  encircling  the  entire  structure 
and  placed  at  equal  distances  apart.  Two 
keels  or  sills  joined   together  by  joists,  straight 


Fig.  39.     Framework  of  a  ship. 

ribs  — joists  —  instead  of  curved  ones,  a  roof 
instead  of  a  deck,  and  the  balloon  frame  (Fig. 
40)  —  the  best  of  all  frames  when  properly 
constructed,  — was  invented.  Unwittingly  the 
ship  construction,  slightly  modified,  was  adopted. 
In  this  frame  the  westerner  departed  radically 
from  the  style  of  his  ancestors,  but  he  could 
not  be  satisfied  with  a  plain  oversail  projection. 


Principles    of   Construction 


129 


He  could  not  afford  the  heavy  box  cornice. 
Having  succeeded  so  well  on  the  frame,  he  set 
about   inventing   a   new    style  of   decoration   for 


Fig.  40.    The  balloon  frame. 


the  projecting  eaves,  but  the  cornice  was  not  a 
success.  The  decorations  shown  in  Figs.  41 
and  42  serve  to  make  hideous  many  a  cheap 
dry- goods -box  house,  which    blisters   and  cracks 


130 


The   Farmstead 


in  the  hot  prairie  winds.  These  houses  some- 
times receive  no  paint  or  one  coat,  or  at  most 
two,  and  in  a  few  years,  what  with  storm  and 
sun,    mischievous    boys    and    wind    cracks,    this 


Fig.  41. 
Too  elaborate 

and 
short-lived. 


Fig.  42.    The  jig-saw  cornice.. 


ginger- bread,   dog-eared   cornice,   made   of   inch 
lumber    by    the    use    of     scroll    saw,    looks    as 
dilapidated  as  a  college  boy  after  a  cane -rush. 
The  thought  of  permanent  beauty,  as  well  as 


Beauty    and    Usefulness  131 

economy  and  usefulness,  should  enter  into  the 
plans  of  a  house.  But  what  is  beauty!  I  am 
well  aware  that  many  of  my  readers  will  not 
agree  with  me,  for 

"  The  standard  of  beauty  ofttimes  it  doth  vary: 
Two  pretty  girls  are  Eliza  and  Mary." 

They  may  be  very  unlike,  yet  both  beautiful. 
From  the  farmer's  standpoint  it  may  be  said 
that  the  chief  characteristics  of  beauty  are  fit- 
ness, naturalness  and  simplicity. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BUILDING   THE  HOUSE— GENERAL    LAY-OUT 

The  reader  will  understand  that  no  attempt 
is  made  to  treat  this  subject  in  detail  nor 
strictly  from  the  architect's  viewpoint.  A  cas- 
ual observation  will  make  it  self-evident  that 
the  structures  on  farms  have  received  little  at- 
tention as  to  beauty  of  form,  economy  of  con- 
struction, or  adaptation  of  means  to  ends. 
Like  many  others,  I  have  noted  all  this  and 
have  made  a  somewhat  careful  study  of  the 
causes  which  usually  have  produced  this  want 
of  harmony,  durability,  adaptability  and  econ- 
omy in  the  construction  of  rural  homesteads. 

The  many  illustrations  of  detail  are  designed 
to  emphasize  underlying  principles.  Principles 
are  always  the  same  :  details  may  be  varied  to 
suit  conditions.  While  the  numerous  illus- 
trations are  meant  to  explain  the  details,  it  is 
believed  that  they  will  also  give  help  to  a  large 
part  of  the  rural  population  who  have  had  little 
opportunity  to  secure  any  adequate  instruction 
in    the   art    and    science    of    home   building. 

Usually  the  cellar   would   better   be  extended 

(132) 


Vegetables   in   the    Cellar 


133 


Fig.  43.     Cellar  under 
the  upright  only. 


under  the  entire  house,  although  it  is  neither 
wise  nor  healthy  to  store  large  quantities  of  ma- 
terial in  it  which, 
if  not  cared  for, 
may  decay  and 
vitiate  the  air  in 
the  rooms  above. 
If  the  cellar  be 
properly  con- 
structed there  is 
no'  objection  to 
storing  family 
supplies  of  fruit 
and  vegetables  for  the  winter  in  this  partly  un- 
derground room.  Large  quantities  of  vegetables 
held  for  future  sale  should  not  find  storage  in  the 
house  cellar.  Now  that  the  floors  of  houses  are 
made  tight,  often  double  with  paper  between, 
and  carpets  or  rugs  to  cover  them,  the  cold 
no  longer  enters  the  cellar  through  the  floor. 
The  cellar  wall  may  therefore  extend  upwards  on 
three  sides,  well  above  ground,  that  opportunity 
may  be  given  for  the  introduction  of  light  and 
air.  With  only  single-glazed  cellar  windows,  no 
building  paper,  and  floors  and  boarding  of  un- 
seasoned lumber,  the  pioneer  was  compelled  to 
place  the  cellar  well  under  ground,  or  bank  the 
walls  with  manure  if  the  winter's  supply  of  veg- 
etables was  to  be  made  secure, 


134 


The   Farmstead 


A  common  form  of  the  foundation  for  farm 
houses  is  shown  in  Fig.  43  —  a  main  structure, 
reinforced  by  a  wing  which,  in  most  cases,  has 
no  cellar  under  it.  Fig.  44  shows  the  cellar 
under  the  whole  structure.  If  the  walls  of  the 
unexcavated  wing  are  placed  3%  feet  below 
ground,  as  they  should  be  in  a  cold  climate,  and 
extend    2   feet   above  ground,  it  will    take    more 

stone  to  construct 
the  foundation 
walls  of  the  house 
with  a  cellar  un- 
der only  a  part 
than  when  it  ex- 
tends under  the 
entire  structure. 
The  stone  saved 
by  leaving  out  the 
wall  between  the 
two  sections  of  the  house  will  more  than 
suffice  for  building  the  walls  of  the  wing  to 
their  full  height.  In  the  latter  case,  it  would 
cost  slightly  more  for  excavation  than  in  the 
former.  Since  cellars,  when  appropriately  used, 
are  in  some  respects  the  most  useful  and 
cheapest  rooms  in  the  structure,  there  is  no 
economy  in  not  placing  them  under  the  en- 
tire house.  A  cellar  may  be  divided  by  4 -inch 
brick  walls  into  various  rooms,   corresponding  in 


Fig.  44.     Cellar  under 
the  entire  house. 

The   Foundation 


135 


shape  to  those  above,  thereby  securing  supports 

for  the  partitions  in  the  superstructure,  and  also 

separate  compartments,  in  order 

that   the  vegetables,  fruit,    milk, 

and    furn'ace    may     be    separate 

one    from  the   other. 

To     prevent     rats     from    en- 
tering the  cellar  under  the  walls, 

either  one   of  two  methods   may 

be    adopted.      A    footing -course 

projecting  beyond  the  outside  of 
the  wall  ar- 
rests the  ro- 
dents,   for 


f^'y^'^.,  having  dug 


have     Fig-  45.    A  footing  course 
tinder  the  cellar  wall. 


down 
they 

not  sufficient 

intelligence  to  dig  around 
the  footing -course  (Fig.  45). 
Or  the  desired  result  may 
be  accomplished  by  placing 
a  thin  layer  of  refuse  broken 
glass  against  the  outside  of 
the  wall  two  to  three  feet 
from  the  surface  of  the 
ground  (Fig.  46).  Cellars 
would  be  much  improved  if  they  had  higher 
ceilings.      At   least    7    feet    should    be    allowed 


&&■&•■'■''■''■■.>■■■■  ""■■■■■ 

Fig.  46.     Showing  a  layer  of 
material  to  stop  vermin. 


136 


The   Farmstead 


between  the  cellar  floor  and  the  under  side  of 
the  overhead  joists.  All  cellars  should  have 
concrete  floors  and  plastered  ceilings,  for  both 
warmth  and  cleanliness.  In  an  extremely  rigor- 
ous climate,  the  upper  angle  of  the  wall  should 
be  lathed   and  plastered  as   shown  in  Fig.  47. 

~  WINDOW   m  CELLAR 
FRQtt   irttlDE. 


SECTIONAL 
YIEW   OF  V/lffDOW 


Fig.  47.    Protecting  the  c  ellar  from  frost  by  plastering  across 
the  tipper  corners. 

If  the  front  cellar  wall  and  the  greater  part 
of  the  side  walls  extend  2  to  3  feet  above 
the  earth,  a  good  sized  window  (which  may  be 
single-  or  double-glazed)  can  be  secured.  The 
rear  walls  should  extend  not  more  than  one 
foot  above  ground.  If  the  earth  slopes  rear- 
ward, then  grade  up  to  the  wall  until  not  more 
than  two  steps  will  be  necessary  to  reach  the 
kitchen  floor  ;  it  is  easier  to  climb  a  gentle  as- 
cent than  steps.     The  front  steps   are  used  but 


Economy   of  Effort 


137 


a  comparatively  few  times,  while  the  rear  ones 
are  used  many  times,  so   it  matters   little  if  the 
front  of  the  house  is  several  steps  above  grade. 
It  makes  a  visitor  unhappy  to  know  that  the 


lig.  48.    The  daily  route  to  the  well. 


busy  housewife  must  descend  three  steps,  walk 
forty  feet  and  ascend  two  steps  to  reach  the 
well     platform,    then    reverse    the     journey,    to 


secure  the  drink  of  cold  water  desired  (Fig.  48). 
The  illustration  in  Fig.  49  shows  how  the  farmer 
solved    the    difficulty    by    building     an    elevated 


Fig.  CO.    An  elevated  earth  wali  to  the  well. 


plank  walk  from  the  kitchen  to  the  well.  Fig. 
50  shows  how  he  might  have  solved  it  in 
another  way. 

The   hillside   wall  may  be  kept  dry  and  the 


138 


The    Farmstead 


cellar  free  from  water  by  drainage  or  by  back- 
ing the  wall  with  loose  rubble  stone,  or  by 
both  (Fig.  51) . 

BUILDING    THE    FOUNDATIONS 


<<ft<(UwfolJl'ft&i' 


Fig.  51. 
A  rubble 
stone  backing 
and  a  drain 
at  the  bot- 
tom. 


The  walls  should  be  placed  below  the  frost 
line  and  have  fairly  broad 
bases,  standing  on  naturally  or 
artificially 
drained 
earth.  Per- 
haps no 
part  of  the 
house  structure  re- 
ceives so  little  at- 
tention as  do  the 
foundation  walls;  there- 
fore, I  shall  enter  some- 
what into  the  details 
of  construction.  Bricks  which  have  been  recently 
burned  and  those  which  do  not  contain  con- 
siderable quantities  of  moisture  should  be  thor- 
oughly wet  before  they  are  placed  in  the  wall. 
If  the  mortar  sets  too  quickly  by  reason  of  the 
dryness  of  the  bricks,  a  strong  wall  cannot  be 
secured,  however  good  the  mortar  may  be  in 
which  they  are  laid. 

The  foundation  walls   for  most  houses,  how- 


Good   Mortar  139 

ever,  are  made  of  stones  laid  in  mortar  com- 
posed of  lime  or  cement,  or  a  mixture  of  the 
two,  and  sand.  A  large  proportion  of  all  the 
sand  used  for  foundation  work  is  markedly 
inferior,  a'nd  the  mortar  is  usually  very  imper- 
fectly mixed.  If  water  lime  isrused  with  the 
sand  it  is  frequently  old,  and  if  old,  inferior. 
Even  the  cements  deteriorate  somewhat  with 
age,  and  the  common  stone  lime  is  often  used 
after  it  is  partially  or  entirely  air -slaked.  If 
the  binding  material  be  inferior  and  the  sand 
have  quantities  of  fine  earth  or  vegetable  matter 
mixed  with  it,  it  will  be  seen  how  impossible  it 
is  to  secure  a  strong  and  binding  mortar.  Even 
if  fresh  lime  and  sharp  sand  are  used,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  usual  specifications  in  building 
contracts,  the  mortar  bond  may  still  be  weak  by 
reason  of  careless  or  imperfect  mixing.  All 
mortar,  even  that  used  for  laying  stones  and 
bricks,  should  be  mixed  until  a,  lime  film  sur- 
rounds every  particle  of  sand.  Plastering  the 
outside  of  the  wall  below  the  grade  line  and 
pointing  the  wall  above  cannot  make  a  firm, 
good  wall  out  of  one  which  has  been  care- 
lessly laid   or  one   bedded  in  inferior  mortar. 

Chimneys  may  provide  for  one  or  more  flues. 
Better  draft  is  likely  to  be  secured  when  sepa- 
rate flues  are  provided  for  each  stove  or  heater 
than    when    one    flue    serves    for   two    or   more 


140 


The   Farmstead 


stoves.  The  diagram,  Fig.  52,  shows  three  flues 
in  one  stack  or  chimney.  One  is  for  the  furnace, 
another  for  the  fireplace,  and  another  for  the 
laundry  stove. 

All    chimneys     should     have     broad     footing 
courses,    which    should    rest    on    solid    earth   to 


Fig.  52.    Three  flues  in  the  chimney,  one  of  them  leading  from  a  fire-place. 

prevent  settling.  They  should  not  be  supported 
by  means  of  brackets  (Fig.  53)  or  on  the  tops 
of  small  cupboards  attached  to  the  wall.  Chim- 
ney walls  of  only  4 -inch  thickness  are  not  safe  ; 
if  they  be  double,  or  8  inches  thick,  the  number 
of  bricks  required  are  increased  by  more  than 
100  per  cent,  and  the  cost  of  the  foundation  is 
also  increased.  The  heavy  walls  are  objection- 
able by  reason  of  added  weight  and  cost,  and 
because  of  the  room  they  occupy.  The  intro- 
duction of  fire-clay  chimney  lining  makes  it  pos- 
sible to  construct  safe  chimneys  with  4 -inch 
walls.     Then,    too,    the   lining   costs   rather   less 


Precautions   Against   Fire 


141 


than  the  extra  course  of  brick,  and  the  com- 
pleted flue  is  smooth  and  of  uniform  dimensions 
on  the  inside. 

The  openings  made  in 
the  frame  for  the  chim- 
ney are  often  too  small, 
in  which  case  the  chim- 
ney is  likely  to  be  "  hung" 
on  either  the  joists  or 
rafters.  There  should  be 
a  clear  space  between  the 
woodwork  and  chimney. 
If  the  opening  in  the 
frame  is  too  small,  the 
mason  will  be  tempted  to 
clip  the  brick  where  the 
chimney  passes  by  the 
wood  and  then  restore  the 
chimney  to  its  full  size 
when  the  obstruction  is 
passed.  This  results  in 
hanging  the  chimney  on  chimney'stlnding 
some      member     of      the        on  a  bracket. 

frame.  Should  the  foun- 
dation settle,  the  wall  may  part  and  sparks  may 
then  easily  reach  the  dfy  wood  in  the  room  or 
at  the  roof  of  the  house. 

It  is   believed  that  the  farmer,  after  reading 
these    lines,  may    secure    a   good   wall    and   one 


Fig.  53 


142  The    Farmstead 

which  fulfils  the  specifications,  if  he  watches  the 
work  carefully  as  it  progresses.  If  he  does,  he 
will  have  a  much  better  wall  than  the  average. 
Since  the  material  and  the  kind  of  work  desired 
vary  so  widely,  it  is  not  wise  to  lay  down  any 
fast  rule  for  the  proportions  of  the  binding 
material  and  sand  which  may  be  used.  It  may 
be  said,  however,  that  the  proportions  vary  from 
1  of  lime  or  cement  to  2  of  sand,  to  1  of  the 
former  and  6  of  the  latter. 


WOODEN     HOUSES  —  THE    FRAME 

Almost  any  variety  of  wood  will  suffice  for 
the  frame  of  the  house,  provided  it  does  not 
twist  and  spring  out  of  shape  too  much  before 
or  after  it  is  put  into  the  building.  Since  the 
sills  are  to  be  placed  on  solid,  continuous  walls, 
they  need  not  be  large.  The  only  objection  to 
box  and  small  sills  is  that  they  may  allow  too 
easy  access  of  air  and  rodents  from  the  walls  of 
the  rooms  to  the  cellar,  and  vice  versa,  unless 
the  spaces  above  the  sills  and  between  the  stud- 
ding are  bricked  in  as  high  as  the  top  of  the 
first  tier  of  joists.  A  rough  floor  laid  before  the 
upright  studding  is  placed  is  shown  in  Fig.  54. 
This  first  floor  should  be  laid  diagonally,  for  the 
one  which  is  laid  immediately  upon  it  should 
not  be  placed  either  parallel  or  at  right  angles 


Bridging   is   Important  143 

to  the  boards  of  the  first  floor,  or  parallel  with 
the  joists.  A  little  reflection  will  reveal  the 
reasons  for  all  this. 

Joists   should  be  bridged.     Fig.  55  shows  the 
more    common   method  of   bridging.     The   joists 


Fig.  54.     The  rough  floor  laid  before  the  studding  is  erected. 

may  be  2x8  in  small,  inexpensive  houses,  and 
2x10  or  2x12  in  large  ones,  bridged  once  in  a 
12 -foot  span,  twice  in  a  16-,  and  three  times  in 
an  18-  or  20 -foot  span.  The  bridging  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  and  should  never  be  omitted, 
as  it  serves  to  strengthen  the  floor  joints  and 
prevents  the  disagreeable  trembling  of  the  floors 
so  annoying  in  many  of  the  older  houses. 

The   studding   for    a    balloon   frame  is   either 


144  The   Farmstead 

2x4,  2x5  or  2x6,  and  the  length  desired.  The 
2x4  studding  are  too  light  for  an  ample  two- 
story  house,  and  they 
1  do  not  give  enough 
thickness  of  wall  for 
the  most  desirable 
window  and  door- 
iambs.    The  doors  are 

Fig.  55.     Bridging  the  joists.  v 

not  held  firmly  in 
place,  and  when  they  are  closed  quickly  by  the 
wind  or  by  children,  the  plastering  is  injured. 
Studding  5  inches  broad,  fortified  by  outside 
diagonal  boarding  (Fig.  56),  gives  the  ideal 
conditions  unless  the  house  is  unusually  large, 
in  which  case  the  studding  should  be  6  inches 
broad.  The  diagonal  boarding  costs  a  trifle 
more  in  material  and  labor  than  the  horizontal, 
but  it  is  so  much  superior  that  the  extra  ex- 
pense may  well  be  incurred.  Every  board  forms 
a  double  brace,  one  where  nailed  to  the  stud- 
ding and  one  where  the  siding  or  "  clap  boards " 
are  nailed  to  the  rough  boards  and  the  studs. 
Nothing  has  yet  been  discovered  which  is  so 
satisfactory,  and  which  gives  such  strength  and 
protection  to  the  frame  as  does  this  preliminary 
diagonal  boarding,  covered  with  paper.  When 
completed  it  forms  a  wall  open  enough  to  pre- 
vent dry  rot  and  tight  enough  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  wind. 


Boom  for    Clinches 


145 


The  second- story  joists  rest  on  stringers  or 
light  girders  1x5  inches,  as  shown  in  Fig.  57. 
If  the  girder  is  set  flush  with  the  inside  of  the 
stud,  A,  the  ]aths  must  lie  directly  upon  the 
face  of  the  girt.  This  gives  no  room  for  the 
mortar  to  form  clinches  behind  the  lath.  This 
5 -inch  girder  swells  when  the  mortar  is  put  on 
and  shrinks   when  it  dries,  which  may   result  in 


Fig.  56.    A  wall  strengthened  fry  diagonal  sheathing. 

a  crack  in  the  wall  in  the  angle  near  A.  Since, 
by  reason  of  faulty  construction,  there  are  no 
clinches  behind  the  lath,  the  plastering  becomes 
loosened,  and  this  is  likely  to  be  the  beginning 
of  serious  trouble.  If  the  girder  is  let  in  so 
that  its  face  is  not  flush  with  the  inside  of  the 
stud  and  then  furrowed  out  with  small  pieces  of 
lath,  the  effects  of  the  shrinking  of  the  girder 
will  be  obviated  and  room  will  be  left  for 
clinches  behind  the  lath. 


146 


The   Farmstead 


Fig.  57.     Second-story  joist. 


In  windy,  cold  climates,  where  lumber  is  at 
all  abundant,  a  second  boarding  may  be  placed 
inside,  covered  with  paper  and  furrowed  out 
with  a  single  thickness  of    lath  to  allow,  as  in 

the  former  case, 
the  formation  of 
clinches.     There 
is    no    objection 
to  boarding  hor- 
s,  izontally   on    the 
-  inside,  if  the  out- 
-~-  side     has      been 
boarded      diago- 
nally.    The  term    "  rough    boarding"    has 
been  used,  but  it  should  be  said  that  the 
boarding  which  forms    the    first    covering, 
sometimes     called     sheathing,    should     be 
brought  to  uniform  thickness  and  matched 
or  rabbeted. 

Wherever  greater  strength  of  wall  is 
desired  than  can  be  formed  by  a  single  2x5 
studding,  as  at  the  corners,  or  by  a  single  2x10 
joist,  as  where  partitions  are  to  be  placed,  it  is 
better  to  spike  two  or  more  pieces  together  than 
to  have  pieces  sawed  of  the  dimensions  desired. 
These  made-up  pieces  or  timbers  are  stronger 
than  solid  pieces  of  the  same  character  and  di- 
mensions, since  the  continuity  of  the  cross -grain 
of  the  wood  is  broken  in  the  made-up  pieces. 


Made-up    Timbers  147 

In  the  construction  of  large  bridges  the  timbers, 
where  exposed  to  the  weather,  are  made  up  of 
smaller  timbers,  since  they  are  then  not  only 
stronger  but  more  durable  and  less  subject  to 
dry  rot  than  if  they  are  solid  (Fig.  58). 

Plates    are    made    up    of     material    2    inches 
thick    and    as    broad    as    the    studding   is    wide, 


Fig.  58.     Construction  of  a  large  bridge 


doubled,  with  joints  mismatched.  This  most 
valuable  principle  of  building  up  timbers  of  sev- 
eral thin  pieces  is  a  somewhat  recent  practice. 
Where  very  large  timbers  are  required,  as  in 
trussed  or  self-supporting  roofs,  the  timbers  of 
which  are  not  exposed  to  view,  they  are  fre- 
quently made  up  of  boards  1  inch  thick  and  as 
broad  as  the  vertical  dimensions  desired.  This 
method  is  sometimes  used  in  constructing 
timbers  for  both  houses  and  barns  (Fig.  59) . 

Roofs  of  houses  are,  of  necessity,  extremely 
variable,  as  the  house  is  not  planned  to  suit  the 
roof,  but  the  roof  to  suit  the  house.  Flat  metal 
roofs  of   all  kinds   should   be   avoided,  as  far  as 


59.    A  made-up  plate,  constructed 
of  boards. 


Fig.  60.    Showing  the  principle  of  construction 
of  Fig.  59. 


Pitch    of  Roofs 


149 


«fr 


possible,  on  the  farm  house,  however  well  they 
may  be  adapted  to  buildings  in  the 
city.  Metal  roofs  are  not  objec- 
tionable in  themselves,  but  only 
when  they  are  laid  flat  on  farm 
houses. 

The   pitch  of    roofs,    like   their 
shape,    is    also   variable.     Nothing 
below    one -third    pitch    should    be 
used  except  for  special  conditions. 
In  Fig.  38,  page  127,  is    an    illus-  •  * 
tration    of    the    common    pitch    of    « 
roofs   in    fashion    fifty    years    ago.    K 
Some   roofs   were  even  flatter  than    g 

CD 

the  one  shown.     The   fashion   now    o 
is    to    construct    house    roofs    with    § 
nearly  or   quite    half  pitch.     While    \ 
steep  roofs    are   desirable   if   made   ^ 
of    wood,    there     is    some     danger  ^ 
that    the    change    from    the    nearly   ^ 
flat  roof   to    the  steep    one  will    be 
carried  too   far  (see  Fig.  13,  page 
95) .     Various  pitches  of   roofs   are 
shown  in  Fig.  61.     Steep  roofs  do 
not    require      as      strong     rafters, 
thrust    less   upon    the    plates,    are 
more    durable,    and  are    less   likely 
to  leak  than  flat  roofs. 

Since  roofs  are  of  various  pitches, 


150  The    Farmstead 

they  require  rafters  of  various  lengths  and  bevels. 
Farmers  and  many  carpenters  have  much  difficulty 
in  getting  the  length  and  bevels  of  both  rafters 
and  braces.  Most  carpenters'  squares  have  so- 
called  brace  rules  stamped  upon  their  tongues.* 
These  give  the  length  of  the  brace  for  the 
shorter  and  more  common  runs ,  f  but  they  do 
not  give  the  angles  of  the  ends  of  the  brace. 
Then,  too,  the  length  is  given  in  inches  and  hun- 
dredths of  inches,  and  carpenters'  squares  are 
not  divided  into  hundredths,  so  this  complicated 
brace -rule  is  as  useful  as  a  steam  whistle  on  an 
ox- cart. 

The  methods  by  which  the  length  and  bevels 
of  any  member  of  a  frame  which  departs  from 
any  other  member  at  an  angle  are  so  easily 
understood  that  the  wonder  is  that  all  are  not 
familiar  with  them.  For  a  simple  illustration, 
let  it  be  supposed  that  rafters  for  a  building 
18  feet  broad,  with  one-third  pitch,  are  to  be 
laid  out  (Fig,  62).  The  rafter,  R,  takes  the 
form  of  a  brace.  The  run  is  9  feet  horizon- 
tally or  half  the  width  of  the  building,  and  6 
feet  perpendicularly.  If  the  square  be  laid  upon 
the  stick  designed  for  the  rafter,  as  6  is  to  9, 
one  side  of  the  square  will  give  the  shorter  and 
the    other  the    longer   angle    or   bevel  (Fig.  63). 


*The  short  end  of  the  square. 

tThe  perpendicular  and  horizontal  distances  covered  by  the  brace- 


152  The   Farmstead 

If  the  square  is  laid  on  12  times  at  9  and  6 
inches,  it  will  give  the  length  of  the  rafter,  for 
12  times  9  is  108,  half  the  width  of  the  build- 
ing, and  12  times  6  is  72,  the  height  of  the 
peak  above  the  plates.  If  the  square  is  laid  on 
18x12  inches,  the  proportion  is  preserved,  and 
hence  the  angles  ;  the  square  would  only  have 
to  be  laid  on  six  times. 

Consider  a  building  20  feet  broad  and  6  inches 
above  one -third  pitch.  The  half  of  20  feet 
equals  10  feet,  or  120  inches.  Seven  feet  2 
inches  (86  inches)  is  the  height  of  the  peak 
above  the  plate.  It  is  quickly  seen  that  this 
problem,  like  the  other,  can  be  solved  in  more 
than  one  way.  If  the  long  end  of  the  square  is 
laid  on  at  20  inches  and  the  short  end  at  14% 
inches,  and  this  is  repeated  six  times,  both  the 
bevels  and  the  length  will  be  secured  (Fig.  64), 
for  6  multiplied  by  20  equals  120  inches,  half 
the  width  of  the  building,  and  6  multiplied  by 
14%  equals  86  inches,  the  height  of  the  peak. 
Or  the  long  end  of  the  square  might  be  laid  on 
at  24  and  the  short  end  at  15|  five  times,  but 
squares  are  not  marked  in  fifths  of  inches,  hence 
the  previous  method  would  be  best.*  The  same 
results  would  be  reached  by  laying  the  square 
on    at    15    and    10%    inches  ;    eight    steps    would 


*  Since  the  square  is  laid   on,   see  Figs.  61,  62,  in  the  same  manner  as  for 
cutting  a  stair;  each  one  of  these  spaces  is  called  a  "  step." 


Fig.  68.     The  rafter  trimmed  on  the  outer  end. 


154  The   Farmstead 

then  be  required  instead  of  six.  The  longer  and 
fewer  the  steps  within  the  limits  of  the  square, 
the  better. 

If  it  is  desired  to  cut  a  brace  3x4  feet  run, 
3  steps,  using  the  lengths  12  and  16,  will  give 
both  the  length  of  the  brace  and  the  bevels 
(Fig.  65).  Take  a  rafter  which  has  a  projec- 
tion requiring  a  notch  to  be  cut  in  the  lower 
side,  and  the  same  rule  will  apply.  The  line 
A,  Fig.  66,  is  horizontal  and  the  face  of  the 
plate  is  perpendicular ;  therefore,  the  line  B 
must  be  at  right  angles  to  A.  The  only 
thing  now  to  be  determined  is  how  deep  the 
notch  shall  be,  for  it  is  evident  that  if  the 
line  A  represents  the  long  end  of  the  square 
and  B  the  short  end  of  the  square,  the  notch 
will  fit  the  plate. 

That  part  of  the  rafter  which  extends  over 
the  building  may  be  reduced  in  size,  but  usu- 
ally it  is  well  to  leave  it  entire  (as  in  Fig. 
67)  if  the  house  is  large.  If  the  lower  end  of 
the  rafter  should  appear  too  heavy,  it  may  be 
treated  as  in  Fig.  68.  The  bevels  at  the  ends 
of  the  rafters  are  the  same  as  at  A  and  B 
(Fig.  66) . 

The  outlines  of  a  story- and- a- half  house, 
which  form  is  most  undesirable  for  various 
reasons,  are  shown  in  Fig.  69.  The  chambers 
cannot   be    well    lighted    or   aired.     The    outlines 


Faulty    Construction 


155 


of  the  room  interfere  with  the  placing  of  fur- 
niture, and  such  chambers  are  far  more  uncom- 
fortable in  warm  weather  than  are  those  in  two- 
story  houses.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  collar- 
beam,  C,  must  be  placed  so  far  above  the  foot 
of  the  rafters  in  order  to  get  a  fair  height  of  ceil- 


Fig. 


Outline  of  a  story-and-a-half  house. 


ing,  that  it  has  little  binding  power,  and  that  the 
building  cannot  be  tied  together  at  the  plates 
in  the  center,  since  the  tie  would  interfere  with 
the  door  in  the  cross  wall.  It  will  also  be  -seen 
that  the  second- story  joists  are  so  far  below  the 
plates  that  their  power  to  hold  the  building 
together  is  small.     Many  of   the  one -and- a -half- 


156  The   Farmstead 

story  houses  have  "  sway  -backed"  peaks  because 
of  this  faulty  construction.  (See  Fig.  35,  page 
124,  broken-back  house.)  If  story- and- a- half 
houses   must  be  built,  then  they  should  be  cov- 


Fig.  70.    Half  pitch  and  an  efficient  collar-beam. 


ered  by  roofs  having  at  least  one -half  pitch,  in 
which  case  the  collar- beams  could  be  placed 
relatively  lower  and  the  thrust  on  the  plates 
would  be  very   much  diminished  by  the    steeper 


Collar   and    Tie-beams  157 

roof  (Fig.  70).  One-,  two-,  three-  or  more  storied 
houses  are  easily  and  certainly  prevented  from 
spreading  since  one  tier  of  joists  always  coin- 
cides with  the  foot  of  the  rafters,  to  which 
they  can  fye  securely  fastened.  Fortunately,  the 
story- and- a- half  house  is  less  constructed  than 
formerly. 


CHAPTER  IX 

BUILDING    THE    ROUSE,    CONCLUDED.- OUTSIDE 
COVERING,  PAINTING 

That  part  of  the  house  which  of  necessity 
must  be  exposed  to  the  bufjetings  of  snow  and 
rain,  wind  and  sun,  should  be  considered  more 
carefully  than  any  other  part  except  the  founda- 
tion. If  economy  demands,  the  doors,  floors, 
bath  rooms,  and  wardrobes  may  be  of  plain  and 
inexpensive  material,  for  later  they  may  be  re- 
placed when  means  justify  additional  expendi- 
ture ;  but  if  the  outside  covering  be  faulty,  the 
house  is  a  partial  failure  from  the  beginning. 

The  first  principle  to  be  observed  is  to  place 
all  projections  intended  to  serve  as  water-tables 
at  somewhat  acute  angles,  for  if  placed  at 
nearly  right  angles  with  the  sides  of  the  house, 
rains  accompanied  by  heavy  winds  will  certainly 
reach  the  framework.  The  water-tables  which 
crown  the  top  of  the  base -board  are  more  ex- 
posed than  those  which  are  higher  up,  and 
therefore  should  be  steep  and  rabbeted  to  pre- 
vent the  water  from  reaching  the  sills.  The  too 
usual  method  is  shown  in  Fig.  71.     An  enlarged 

(158) 


Water -tables 


159 


view  of    a  better    style  of  water-table  is   shown 
in  Fig.  72. 

Outside  window  frame  sills  which  have  in- 
sufficient pitch  tend  to  become  water- 
soaked,  and  not  infrequently  the  lower 
member  of  the  window  itself  rots  by  rea- 
son of  the  water  which  drives  in  and 
remains  under  the  sill  of  the  window  for 
considerable  periods  of  time.  Figs.  73 
and  74  show  perfect  and  faulty  methods 
of  construction. 

The    siding    of    a   house    for 
various  reasons  would  better  be 

Fig.  71. 

put  on  horizontally,  although  a  faulty 
material  put  on  this  way,  unless  watertable- 
it  is  kept  well  painted,  is  not  so  dur- 
able as  when  placed  vertically.  The 
horizontal  covering  is  more 
beautiful,  lends  itself  better 
to  the  numerous  openings,  and 
gives  better  protection  from 
cold  and  wind  than  does  the 
vertical  covering.  If  the  build- 
ing is  not  to  be  painted,  then 
the  covering  would  better  be 
placed  vertically.  Nearly  all 
covered  with  either  thin  lap- 
siding  or  inch  siding,  prepared  in  various  ways 
and   known    by    various    names.      The    inch    or 


Fig.  72.    A  good  water-table. 

wooden  houses  ar< 


160 


The  Farmstead 


novelty  siding  was  first  introduced  in  the  West, 
and  costs  but  little  more  than  the  lap- siding, 
because,  being  thicker,  it  can  be  made  of  some- 
what inferior  lumber.  The  novelty  or  rabbeted 
covering  gives   greater   strength    to   the   building 


*i       Fig.  73.    Perfect  con- 
struction of  window  sill 


Fig.  74. 
Faulty  construction. 


and  is  much  more  quickly  and  cheaply  put  on. 
It  may  be  said  that  this  style  of  covering  is 
extremely  faulty  if  placed  on  the  building  in  the 
usual  way,  namely,  before  the  doors  and 
windows  and  corner  boards  are  in  position.  If 
the  same  method  of  placing  the  material  be 
practiced  as   in  placing  the   lap -siding,  then  the 


Faulty    Siding 


161 


^ 


\K 


*K 


objections  to  this  class  of  siding  disappear  to 
a  certain  extent.  The  diagram,  Fig.  75,  shows 
the  novelty,  or  drop,  or  O  G  siding  (A),  the 
rabbeted  (B)  and  lap -siding 
(C).  It  will  readily  be  seen 
that  if  a  drop  (A)  or  rab- 
beted (B)  siding  be  put  on 
before  the  window  frames 
are  placed,  as  is  the  usual 
custom,  an  opening  (x)  is 
left  under  the  facing  of  the 
window  frame  which  ex- 
tends through  to  the  stud- 
ding. This  permits  the 
rain,  in  a  driving  storm, 
to  pass  horizontally  along 
this  opening  to  the  stud- 
ding and  then  downward 
along  the  framework  of  the 
building.  Many  instances 
could  be  cited  in  which 
these  openings  have  had 
to    be     filled    by    triangular  c 

blocks    of    wood    or    putty,  and    even   then   the 
water  was  not  entirely  excluded. 

This  method  of  covering  houses  or  even  barns 
with  this  new  kind  of  siding  is  usually  disap- 
pointing and  wasteful  of  material.  All  that  is 
gained  is  a  little  more  facility  and  cheapness  in 


Fig.  75. 
Forms  of  siding. 


162  The   Farmstead 

placing  the  covering.  If  it  is  put  on,  as  it 
should  be,  after  the  window  and  door  frames 
are  set,  it  is  more  difficult  and  more  expensive 
to  place  than  lap -siding. 

No  way  of  covering  a  wooden  house  has 
been  found  superior  to  the  one -half  inch  lap- 
siding  with  joints  tight  enough  at  the  frames 
and  corners,  in  conjunction  with  the  paint,  to 
make  water-tight  joints.  The  lap  should  not 
be  less  than  one  inch,  and  the  nails  should  be 
so  placed  that  in  case  of  considerable  shrinkage 
in  the  siding  the  inside  will  give  or  even  check, 
instead  of  the  outside  (z).  If  made  as  at  y, 
the  outside  will  check.  This  implies  that  the 
nails  are  to  be  driven  rather  more  than  one- 
half  inch  above  the  edge  of  the  siding.  The 
nails  which  hold  the  outer  covering  should 
either  be  set  and  puttied,  or  the  heads  should 
be  left  even  with  or  slightly  above  the  surface 
of  the  wood,  that  the  paint  may  cover  all  parts 
of  the  nail  head.  If  the  nails  are  driven  too 
far  in  the  heads  are  not  fully  covered  and  pro- 
tected by  the  paint,  in  which  case  they  will  rust 
and  present  an  unsightly  appearance. 

Some  one  has  said  that  if  a  woman's  feet, 
hands,  and  head  are  well  and  appropriately 
clothed,  the  balance  of  the  dress  may  be  plain 
and  simple,  and  yet  she  will  have  an  elegant 
appearance.     So,  if   a  house  has  a  good  founda- 


Foundation    Walls  163 

tion  and  a  suitable  and  well -placed  roof,  the 
balance  of  the  outside  may  be  extremely  plain 
and  yet  it  will  be  beautiful.  Some  of  our 
modern  houses  rest  on  unpointed,  poorly  con- 
structed, and  narrow  foundations,  are  bedecked 
with  peaks,  pigeon  lofts,  and  dog-eared  cor- 
nices, and  remind  one  of  the  suspenderless, 
barefooted  darky  crowned  with  a  cast-off  silk 
hat. 

If  the  foundation  is  too  small  and  shabbily 
built,  no  amount  of  paint  and  cornice  can  re- 
lieve the  house  from  a  look  of  shabby  gentility. 
A  few  brown  or  cream-colored  stones  or  bricks, 
when  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  foundation 
where  it  shows  above  ground,  will  give  dignity, 
beauty  and  a  substantial  look  to  the  whole 
house.  It  may  do  for  it  what  a  nickel  does  for 
one's  shoes. 

The  roof  of  the  farm  house,  and  for  that 
matter  of  all  other  houses,  should,  in  the  trying 
climate  of  America,  have  an  ample  projection. 
An  abbreviated  cornice  may  be  admissible  if  the 
building  is  constructed  of  stone  which  is  of  suf- 
ficient density  to  resist  the  American  tooth  of 
time.  Fig.  76  shows  a  section  of  an  abbrevi- 
ated and  a  well  extended  cornice.  The  house 
which  has  this  short-cut  cornice  stands  within  a 
few  hundred  feet  of  the  one  with  the  wide  pro- 
jecting eaves.     During  the  past  twenty  years  it 


164 


The   Farmstead 


has  been  necessary  to  paint  the  former  twice  as 
often  as  the  latter. 

The  roof  covering  would  better  be  of  slate  or 
tiles,  for  the  time  has  passed  for  building  tem- 
N  porary,  make- shift   houses,   though 

they  might  have  served  their  pur- 
pose well  in  a  new  and  rapidly 
developing  country.  With 
rare  exceptions,  the  houses 
to  be  built  in  the  future 
should  be  per- 
manently loca- 
ted, well  built, 
and  of  durable 
material.  The 
slates  which 
compose  a  roof 
should  be  not 
more  than  8 
inches  wide  and 
should  not  be 
put  on  roofs  of 
less  than  one -third  pitch,  since  they  are  only 
double -lapped  and  do  not  lie  as  closely,  one 
upon  the  other,  as  do  shingles,  which  are  laid 
triple -lapped.  Slate  and  tile  roofs  are  compara- 
tively heavy,  and  hence  require  stronger  roof 
structures  than  shingles. 

The  roof   boarding  for  slate   roofs   should   be 


Fig.  76. 
Deep  and  narrow  cornices. 


Roof -hoards   and   Shingles  165 

matched  —  tongued  and  grooved  —  and  covered 
with  paper  to  prevent  cold  and  draughts  of  air 
from  passing  into  the  attic.  Since  slates,  on 
account  of  their  somewhat  rough  surfaces,  do 
not  lie  closely  together,  the  wind  is  likely  to 
pass  through  the  cracks  in  the  roof,  if  there  are 
any,  and  carry  snow  and  rain  into  the  upper 
part  of  the  house  ;  therefore  the  roof  covering 
immediately  under  the  slates  should  be  virtually 
air-tight.  The  roof  boards  for  a  shingle  roof 
should  be  narrow «  and  laid  with  openings  of 
from  1%  to  2  inches  between  the  boards.  Rain 
and  snow  seldom  drive  up  and  through  the 
shingle  roof,  and  since  wooden  roofs  are  more 
likely  to  rot  out  than  to  wear  out,  the  more  per- 
fectly the  shingles  are  dried  out  after  a  storm 
the  better.  The  narrow  roof  boards  and  the 
spaces  between  them  allow  the  shingles  to  dry 
quickly,  and  therefore  are  better  than  matched 
boards. 

The  short,  or  common,  shingle  of  commerce 
is  16  inches  long,  %-  to  %-inch  thick  at  one 
end,  and  %  of  an  inch  at  the  other,  and  is 
computed  at  4  inches  wide.  A  bunch  of  shin- 
gles contains  one  fourth  of  a  thousand.  It 
should  have  25  double  courses  and  the  band 
should  be  20  inches  long.  Not  infrequently 
there  is  a  course  or  two  wanting,  or  the  bands 
are  an  inch  or  so  short.     Having  this  data,  one 


166  The   Farmsteud 

can  easily  determine  if  the  bunch  is  of  legal 
size.  A  little  cheating  is  not  uncommonly  done 
by  placing  the  shingles  in  the  bnnch  loosely. 
This  can  be  detected  by  examining  the  bunches 
at  the  thick  ends  of  the  shingles. 

Theoretically,  1,000  shingles  should  cover  10 
feet  square,  or  100  square  feet,  known  in  car- 
pentry as  "  a  square,"  if  the  shingles  are  laid  4 
inches  to  the  weather.  Since  shingles  are  usu- 
ally laid  4%  to  5  inches  to  the  weather,  1,000 
shingles  should  cover  about  120  square  feet. 
Two -thirds  of  the  lower  part  of  the  roof  may 
be  laid  4%  inches,  and  the  upper  third  4%  or 
5  inches  to  the  weather,  if  the  roof  is  not  flat. 

If  shingles  are  treated  with  lime  water  or  di- 
luted gas  tar,  or  be  painted  as  they  are  laid, 
the  life  of  the  roof  may  be  prolonged.  The 
painting  of  roofs  with  tar  or  common  earth  or 
mineral  paints,  after  they  are  laid,  does  little  or 
no  good  in  preserving  them.  Sometimes  paint- 
ing is  resorted  to  to  make  the  roof  harmonize 
with  the  color  of  the  sides  of  the  building. 

Neither  extremely  narrow  nor  extremely  wide 
shingles  are  desirable.  Those  from  3  to  6 
inches  wide,  when  carefully  laid,  are  satisfactory. 
Each  shingle  should  receive  but  two  nails  ;  one 
is  usually  enough,  and  these  should  be  placed 
about  X  of  an  inch  from  the  edges,  and  about 
1  inch  above  the  point  where  the  butts  of  the 


Good   and   Poor   Shingling 


167 


next  course  will  come.  When  the  courses  above 
are  laid  upon  the  shingle  having  but  one  nail, 
two  or  three  other  nails,  which  are  driven  in 
the  courses  above,  will  serve  to  help  hold  it  in 
position.  The  joints  of  shingle  roofs  should  be 
double  broken:  that  is,  the  joints  in  the  shingles 

Single     forco./ts         J        JDou,(>!e     bre.&.ks 


k 


Fig.  77.     The  laying  of  shingles. 

of  one  course  should  not  coincide  with  the  joints 
of  the  first  or  second  course  below.  Consult 
Fig.  77. 

If  two  nails  be  driven  in  the  sides  of  an  un- 
seasoned shingle,  when  it  shrinks  it  is  likely  to 
split  in  the  middle  ;  and  in  laying  a  roof  the 
joint  immediately  above  the  course  under  con- 
sideration is  likely  to  come  at  or  near  the  mid- 


168 


The   Farmstead 


die  of  the  shingle,  which  splits  by  reason  of  the 
shrinking.  The  case  is  still  worse  when  three 
nails  are  put  in  a  shingle,  for  then  it  is  almost 
certain  to  split  in  the  middle 
and  immediately  in  line  with 
the  joint  in  the  course  above. 
Unscientific  placing  of 
and  insufficient  mix- 
mortar  results  in  an 
unsatisfactory  house,  both  in- 
side and  outside,  however  good 
the  materials  may  be. 

VENEERED     HOUSES 


shingles 
ing  of 


A  most  excellent  way  to 
secure  a  warm,  durable  house, 
and  one  that  will  re- 
quire the  minimum 
of  care-taking,  is  to 
first  construct  a  4- 
inch  wall  after  the 
balloon  pattern,  as 
has  been  previously 
described.  To  this 
frame,  sheathing  surfaced  on  one  side  is  attached. 
The  4-inch  brick  wall  is  securely  fastened  to  the 
wooden  structure  by  means  of  30-penny  spikes, 
one  at  each  studding,  which  are  driven  in  at 
the  top  of   every  seven  courses    of   brick.     ( See 


Veneered  Houses  169 

Fig.  78.)  A  wooden  house  may  also  be  veneered 
with  stone,  the  veneering  being  held  in  place  by 
means  of  metal  anchors  attached  to  the  board- 
ing. 

The  foundation  needs  to  be  a  little  stronger 
than  for  the  wooden  house,  and  must  be  pro- 
vided with  a  stone  water-table  for  receiving  the 
veneering. 

In  a  veneered  house,  all  the  lightness  and 
dryness  of  a  wooden  house  are  secured  on  the 
inside  and  on  the  outside  all  the  durability  and 
solidity  of  a  brick  or  stone  house.  When  the 
veneering  is  of  hard-burned,  cream- colored  or 
neutrally  tinted  brick  or  brown  stone,  the  effect 
is  extremely  pleasing.  The  first  cost  of  such  a 
house  is  somewhat  more  than  an  all- wood  house, 
but  its  greater  durability  and  freedom  from  con- 
stant repairs  makes  it  no  more  expensive  in  the 
end.  When  one  builds  such  a  house  and  covers 
it  with  a  steep  slate  roof,  he  feels  that  he  has 
builded  for  many  coming  generations. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  detail  of  stone 
and  brick  houses,  since  such  structures  are  quite 
expensive,  and  their  construction  should  always 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  experts.  It  may  be 
well,  however,  to  discuss  them  generally.  The 
cost  of  building  brick  houses  is  nearly  twice  as 
great  as  those  of  wood  ;  stone  houses  cost  more 
than   brick   houses.      The   foundations   of    brick 


170  The   Farmstead 

or  stone  structures  must  be  broad  and  placed 
deep  in  the  ground,  to  sustain  the  great  weight 
placed  upon  them.  However  much  pains  has 
been  taken,  the  walls  of  the  superstructure  often 
crack  by  reason  of  the  unequal  settling  of  the 
foundation  or  by  unequal  strain  on  the  walls, 
due  to  the  window  and  door  openings.  Once 
the  walls  are  cracked  they  become  unsightly,  and 
cannot  well  be  restored  without  being  rebuilt. 
Unless  the  windows  are  extra  large  the  house 
will  not  be  well  lighted  because  of  the  thick 
walls.  (See  Fig.  24,  p.  108.)'  The  walls  do  not 
heat  and  cool  as  quickly  as  do  wooden  walls, 
hence  brick  and  especially  stone  houses  are  likely 
to  be  damp,  since  the  warm  air  of  the  rooms 
tends  to  part  with  its  moisture  when  it  comes  in 
contact  with  the  relatively  cool  walls.  This  ten- 
dency of  the  walls  to  condense  moisture  may 
be  obviated  by  studding  and  plastering  them  on 
the  inside,  but  all  this  adds  to  the  expense. 
Until  building  material  becomes  much  less  ex- 
pensive than  it  now  is,  the  farmer  would  better 
build  either  a  wooden  or  veneered  house. 


OLD   houses 

Houses  which  were  built  some  time  ago  and 
before  building  paper  and  better  methods  of  con- 
struction   were    in   vogue,  are    usually   too   cold 


Be -siding    Old   Rouses 


171 


and  often  extremely  unsatisfactory.  The  out- 
side covering  may  be  warped  and  cracked  and 
too  often  paintless.  Where  these  conditions 
prevail  the  house  may  be  re -sided  without  re- 
moving the  old  covering.  The  window  frames, 
corner  boards,  and  like  members  which  receive 
the  siding  are  built  out  by  placing  bands  around 


1-1 


Fig.  79.    Re-siding  an  old  wall. 

the  frames  and  on  the  corner  boards  of  sufficient 
thickness  to  receive  the  new  second  siding. 
Strong  building  paper  is  then  placed  over  the 
old.  siding,  and  strips  one  inch  thick  and  two 
inches  broad  are  nailed  immediately  upon  it  and 
over  the  several  studs  of  the  old  frame.  (Fig. 
79.)  The  house  is  now  ready  to  receive  new 
siding.    If  paper  be  laid  on  the  floors  and  a  well 


172 


The   Farmstead 


seasoned  second  floor  be  laid  upon  it,  they  will 
be  greatly  improved  at  slight  cost. 

Eave  troughs  should  be  placed  outside  the 
perpendicular  line  of  the  walls  to  prevent  water 
from  entering  the  house  should  the  troughs 
leak  or  overflow  from  being  filled  with  ice. 
Eave  troughs  are  frequently  made  of  tin  which 
is   too   narrow,  in  which    case,  especially  on  flat 


Fig.  80.    Faulty  gutter  or  eave  trough. 


Fig.  81.   Well  constructed  gutter. 


roofs,  the  water  will  back  up  under  the  shingles 
and  run  over  that  part  of  the  gutter  which  lies 
hidden  in  the  roof.  The  elevation  of  the  front 
edge  of  the  gutter  should  be  at  least  2  inches 
below  the  extreme  upper  edge  of  the  tin  of 
which  the  gutter  is  made.  (Compare  Figs.  80 
and  81.)  Gutters  placed  at  the  end  of  the 
rafters  are  usually  not  as  durable  as  those 
placed  on  the  roof,  but  if  carefully  put  up  so 
that   they   will    keep   their    position    they   serve 


Gutters   and    Valleys  173 

their  purpose  well  and  may  be  made  to  give 
additional  beauty  to  the  eaves  of  the  roof.  The 
conductors  which  lead  the  water  from  the  gut- 
ters to  the  ground  should  be  made  large  and  of 
corrugated  material,  that  expansion  may  be  pro- 
vided for  should  they  become  filled  with  ice. 

What  has  been  said  about  using  too  narrow 
tin  for  gutters  is  doubly  applicable  to  the  val- 
leys. Open  -valleys  are  better  than  closed.  All 
tin  used  for  gutters  or  valleys  should  be  painted 
on  both  sides  before  it  is  placed  upon  the  rooff; 
and  all  used  about  the  outside  of  the  building 
should  be  kept  well  painted,  as  it  is  more  eco- 
nomical to  paint  often  than  to  mend  leaks. 


PAINTING    THE     HOUSE 

After  much  solicitude  and  money  have  been 
expended  on  the  construction  of  the  house,  it  is 
poor  economy  to  let  it  suffer  for  want  of  paint. 
Not  infrequently  the  house  is  planned  so  large, 
or  so  much  is  spent  on  its  erection  that  means 
are  not  at  hand  for  fully  protecting  the  outside 
with  suitable  paints. 

As  to  the  colors  of  paints  or  their  combina- 
tions, little  can  be  said,  since  tastes  and  condi- 
tions are  extremely  variable.  A  farm  house 
should  have  its  own  distinctive  features,  and  its 
own   personality,  and  while  it  may  be   similar  to 


174  The   Farmstead 

many  other  houses  it  should  not  be  a  duplicate 
of  any  other  one. 

In  manufacturing  towns  long  rows  of  houses 
are  built,  each  one  the  exact  duplicate  of  all  the 
others  in  shape,  dimensions,  and  color.  The 
effect  is  abominable.  This  illustration  of  exact 
imitation  only  goes  to  show  how  necessary  it  is 
to  have  diversity  of  style  in  the  houses  them- 
selves and  variation  in  the  colors  of  the  paints 
if  the  maximum  beauty  of  the  home  and  adap- 
tation to  landscape  and  site  are  secured.  In 
painting  the  farm  house  beauty  should  not  be 
ignored,  but  beauty  may  not  be  compatible  with 
durability  and  necessary  economy.  The  farm 
home  may  and  should  be  placed  in  such  beauti- 
ful environment  that  the  paint  which  covers  it 
sinks  into  comparative  insignificance  as  com- 
pared to  the  painting  of  the  city  house  ;  there- 
fore the  elements  of  economy  and  durability  play 
as  important  parts  in  the  painting  of  farm 
houses  as  does  beauty.  Even  a  great,  plain, 
two -story  white  farm  house  with  green  window- 
blinds  can  be  made  to  look  beautiful  and  home- 
like if  it  has  a  suitable  setting  of  noble  trees. 

If  the  outside  covering  of  the  house  is  placed 
some  time  before  it  receives  its  first  coat  of 
paint,  the  wood  tends  to  check  and  usually  be- 
comes too  dry  for  applying  it.  If  exposed  for 
some  days  to  the   direct  rays  of  the  sun   before 


The    Priming    Goat  175 

painting,  so  much  of  the  oil  of  the  paint  will  be 
taken  up  by  the  wood  that  there  will  not  be 
enough  left  to  bind  the  mineral  matter  of  the 
paint  to  the  wood.  This  is  especially  the  case 
where  an  attempt  is  made  to  complete  the  paint- 
ing by  the  application  of  but  two  coats,  in  which 
case,  the  first  or  prime  coat  must  contain  rela- 
tively much  mineral  material  and  little  oil,  and 
must  be  spread  thickly  if  the  surfaces  are  to  be 
well  covered  by  the  two  coats.  Not  infrequently, 
the  outside  woodwork  is  swollen  and  somewhat 
displaced  by  rains  before  the  roof  is  in  place. 
Even  after  it  has  dried  out  the  ideal  conditions 
are  not  secured.  The  roof  should  be  placed  as 
soon  as  the  siding  is  completed,  or  if  possible 
before.  The  carpenter  should  put  on  the  first, 
or  prime,  coat  as  fast  as  the  house  is  sided ; 
that  is,  the  woodwork  which  has  been  placed 
from  one  scaffold  or  stage  should  be  painted 
from  the  scaffold  before  the  one  above  is  con- 
structed. The  corner  boards,  window  sash,  and 
frame  should  receive  one  coat  of  paint  before 
they  leave  the  shop.  The  prime  coat  may  be  of 
yellow  ochre  mixed  with  some  white  lead,  since 
the  after  painting  with  the  desired  color  will 
cover  the  yellow  if  two  coats  be  applied.  Good 
yellow  ochre  is  a  most  durable  paint  when  prop- 
erly mixed  and  spread,  although  it  may  be  said 
that  the  more  white  lead  used  in  the  prime  coat 


176  The   Farmstead 

the  better.  Yellow  ochre  should  contain  a  large 
per  cent  of  iron ;  when  ochres  are  composed 
largely  of  colored  clay  they  are  inferior.  The 
paint  for  the  first  coat  should,  in  any  case,  be 
thin,  since  the  oil  which  it  contains  plays  an  im- 
portant part.  This  first  coat  tends,  or  should 
tend,  to  fill  the  wood  with  oil  so  that  the  oil  in 
the  after  coat  will  mostly  remain  with  the  paint, 
and  not  leave  it  and  pass  into  the  wood,  thereby 
destroying  its  binding  force.  Too  much  stress 
can  hardly  be  laid  on  the  necessity  of  rubbing 
the  first  coat  into  the  wood  by  vigorous  use  of 
the  brush.  To  realize  the  value  of  this  principle 
one  has  but  to  visit  a  first-class  carriage  manu- 
factory and  observe  the  methods  which  are  in 
use  to  prepare  a  carriage  body  for  its  final  coat 
of  dark  paint  and  varnish.  In  too  many  cases 
the  first  coat  of  paint  is  mixed  too  thickly  and 
is  not  pressed  into  the  pores  of  the  wood  as  it 
should  be,  in  which  case  the  paint  may  either 
peel  or  rub  off  in  a  few  years.  The  country  boy 
dressed  in  his  best  black  suit  often  has  a 
reminder  of  this  if  he  chances  to  lean  against 
the  outside  of  the  old  country  church  while 
"  waiting  for  meeting  to  take  up." 

All  outside  painting,  with  the  exception  of 
the  first  coat,  should  be  done,  as  far  as  possible, 
in  cool  weather.  Early  spring  and  late  fall, 
when   flies    and   dust   are   not   present,    are    the 


Linseed    Oil   Paints  111 

best.  If  the  house  is  built  in  the  summer,  the 
second  coat  may  be  put  on  in  the  fall  and  the 
third  coat  the  following  spring.  The  paint  of 
the  second  coat  may  be  a  little  thicker  than  that 
of  the  first,  and  that  of  the  third  a  little'  thicker 
than  the  second.  If  the  best  job  is  desired  the 
paint  for  all  three  coats  should  be  mixed  thin- 
ner than  is  customary,  in  which  case  a  fourth 
eoat  will  be  required  the  following  fall.  The 
house  will  now  have  a  polish  similar  to  the  well 
painted  carriage  body,  and,  like  it,  will  resist 
moisture  and  remain  good  for  a  long  time.  If 
a  building  is  to  be  painted  at  all  it  would  better 
be  painted  at  the  beginning  and  be  kept  well 
painted,  as  it  is  the  more  economical  in  the 
end.  Better  curtail  the  size  of  the  house  than 
to  build  it  so  large  that  the  outside  covering 
must  be  neglected. 

The  oil  used  in  paints  is  usually  derived  from 
the  vegetable  oil  found  in  flax  or  linseed.  Al- 
though many  other  kinds  of  oils  have  been 
tried,  nothing  has  been  discovered  which  can 
take  the  place,  in  paints,  of  linseed  oil.  This 
is  most  remarkable,  for  there  are  many  vege- 
table oils  which  are  very  similar  to  this  one. 
Linseed  oil  is  expensive  as  compared  with  sev- 
eral other  kinds,  hence  many  attempts  have  been 
made  to  find  an  oil  equally  as  good  for  paint- 
ing ;    so   far  as   I   am  able  to  learn,  none  have 


178  The   Farmstead 

been  discovered.  Linseed  oil  in  paints,  when 
dried,  forms  a  hard,  tough,  gluey  coating  which 
serves  to  bind  firmly  the  particles  of  paint 
together,  and  to  the  wood,  and  to  exclude  water 
as  no  other  oil  does  ;  hence  if  any  other  oil  is 
mixed  with  the  linseed  oil,  it  is  said  to  be  adul- 
terated. At  the  present  time  linseed  oil  is  adul- 
terated in  some  cases,  and  it  is  believed  that 
this  adulteration  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  lack 
of  durability  in  many  of  the  ready- mixed  paints. 
If  linseed  oil  be  mixed  with  other  oils  which  are 
wanting  in  its  valuable  characteristic,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  such  oils  will  not  bind  the  particles  of 
paint  together  as  they  should  be  bound. 

At  present  the  only  protection  is  to  purchase 
guaranteed  pure  oil  of  dealers  who  are  reliable 
beyond  perad venture.  Outside  painting  should 
be  done  with  unboiled  oil  unless,  on  account  of 
the  weather,  boiled  oil  must  be  used  to  hasten 
drying.  In  extreme  cases  a  drier  (litharge)  is 
used.  The  drying  process  should  not  be  rapid 
in  outside  painting,  as  slow  drying  promotes 
durability. 

The  substances  mixed  with  the  oil  to  form 
paints  are  extremely  variable  in  composition  and 
color.  Some  are  good,  and  are  usually  relatively 
high  priced.  Others  are  inferior  and  relatively 
low  priced.  Now  that  so  many  brands  of  ready- 
mixed  paints  of  many  tints  are  in  common  use, 


Unadulterated   Paints  179 

it  is  impracticable  to  analyze  all  of  them  and 
determine  their  quality  so  that  the  inferior  may 
be  distinguished  from  the  superior.  There  ap- 
pears to  be  but  two  ways  out  of  this  serious 
dilemma:  use  the  best  brands  of  the  ready-mixed 
paints  and  await  results,  or  purchase  pure  white 
lead  and  zinc  paints  and  pure  oil,  and  tint  to 
suit  tastes  and  conditions.  Heretofore,  to  do 
this  successfully  has  required  much  skill  and 
patience,  especially  if  the  house  was  to  be 
painted  in  many  colors. 

Paints  are  now  so  universally  adulterated 
that  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  call  attention  to  a 
company  which  virtually  guarantees  the  material 
sold.  The  National  Lead  Company  makes  white 
paints  of  pure  white  lead  and  pure  linseed  oil. 
It  also  manufactures  pure  tinting  colors,  at  least 
the  company  so  advertise,  and  without  doubt 
would  be  liable  for  damages  should  the  paints 
prove  to  be  adulterated.  Sample  tint  cards  are 
furnished  and  directions  given  as  to  the  quantity 
and  kind  of  tinting  material  to  be  mixed  with 
the  white  paint  to  give  the  desired  color.  All 
this  greatly  simplifies  painting,  and  if  these 
paints  are  pure,  as  represented,  the  farmer  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  securing  pure  paint  of  any 
tint  desired. 

The  farmer  who  desires  a  beautifully  painted 
house,    and    simplicity,    may    well     restrict    the 


180  The   Farmstead 

colors  of  the  paints  he  uses  to  two,  being  care- 
ful that  they  are  in  harmony,  one  with  the 
other,  and  with  the  character  of  the  house  and 
its  surroundings. 

The  following  figures  show  the  composition  of 
some  common  paints  (No.  1  was  analyzed  at  the 
Cornell  Exp.  Sta.,  the  others  at  the  Iowa  Station) : 

I.  The  paint  known  as  white  lead,  when  pure, 
is  a  basic  carbonate  of  lead  mixed  in  oil.  A 
sample  showed— 

White  lead 93.62% 

Oil  and  undetermined 6.38% 

There  was  no  evidence  of  adulteration. 

II.  White  lead- 
White  lead 41.12% 

Barium  sulfate 30.29% 

Zinc  oxide 28.59% 

Adulterated  with  barium  sulfate  and  zinc  oxide.  Barium  sul- 
fate is  very  heavy;    in  fact,  in  nature  it  is  known  as  heavy  spar, 

III.  Venetian  red,  dry — 

Ferric  oxide 24.12% 

Calcium  carbonate  \  66  36% 

Calcium  sulfate         ) 

Undetermined 9.52% 

Adulterated  with  calcium  carbonate  and  calcium  sulfate.  Vene- 
tian red  is  ferric  oxide,  or  a  natural  red  oxide  of  iron.  Calcium 
carbonate  is  chalk  or  limestone,  and  calcium  sulfate  is  plaster. 

IV.  Venetian  red  in  oil — 

Ferric  oxide 12.82% 

Calcium  sulfate 3.54% 

Barium  sulfate 63.98% 

Oil  and  undetermined 19.66% 

100.00% 
Adulterated  with  barium  sulfate  and  calcium  sulfate. 


CHAPTER   X 

INSIDE   FINISH,  HEATING,    AND    VENTILATION 

As  a  rule,  houses  are  built  too  quickly. 
The  frame  timbers  are  only  partly  seasoned 
when  placed;  the  rains  which  fall  before  the 
house  is  roofed-in  and  the  dampness  caused  by 
plastering  all  conspire  to  swell  and  make  damp 
all  portions  of  the  wooden  parts  of  the  struc- 
ture. Formerly,  the  casings  of  doors  and 
windows  and  the  floors  were  placed  before  the 
rooms  were  plastered ;  the  better  practice  of 
plastering  on  "grounds"*  and  placing  the  wood- 
work after  the  mortar  is  dry  is  now  observed 
by  the  builders  of  all  good  houses.  In  most 
cases  even  these  improved  methods  of  con- 
struction do  not  result  in  securing  what  is 
wanted  — tight  floors  and  doors  and  casings 
which  will  not  shrink  and  warp  out  of  shape. 
Nearly  all  of  this  trouble  may  be  traced  to 
two  principal  causes :  the  lumber  which  con- 
stitutes the  inside  finish  may  not  be  thoroughly 
seasoned,  or  the  house  may  be  so  damp  that  the 


*Narrow    strips    of    sufficient    thickness   to    receive    the  lath    and    plaster, 
placed  on  the  frame  and  other  places  where  needed. 

(181) 


182  The   Farmstead 

finish  swells  after  it  is  placed.  In  either  case, 
when  the  house  becomes  thoroughly  dried  out 
by  artificial  heat  or  otherwise,  unsightly  and 
dirt -holding  cracks  will  appear.  When  ex- 
pensive hard  wood  polished  floors  are  laid,  pains 
is  taken  to  provide  against  shrinkage  by 
kiln-drying  the  floor  boards  and  by  laying 
them  where  the  air  and  sun  unite  to  take  up 
extraneous  moisture  in  the  rooms  and  in  the 
floor    boards    used. 

Comparatively  few  persons  can  afford  hard 
wood  floors,  but  this  fact  does  not  preclude 
having  floors  without  wide  cracks  ,  which  serve 
to  retain  dangerous  and  filthy  material.  There 
is  no  reason  why  tight  floors  may  not  be  made 
of  hard  pine  or  other  suitable  material,  pro- 
vided a  little  extra  pains  be  taken  in  their  con- 
struction. 

The  laying  of  the  floors  should  be  the  last 
carpenter  work  done  in  the  new  house.  All 
this  implies  that  a  rough,  cheap  floor  has  been 
laid  when  the  frame  was  constructed.  The 
rough,  diagonally  laid  sub -floor  will  cost  some- 
thing extra,  but  it  results  in  so  many  benefits 
that    it    should  never  be    dispensed    with. 

Windows  and  door  frames  must  have  inside 
casings,  and  baseboards,  kitchen  wainscoting  and 
picture  moldings  cannot  well  be  dispensed 
with.     All  these   should  be  of  the  simplest  and 


Satisfactory   Finish 


183 


plainest  construction.  Fig.  82  shows  a  cross 
section  of  a  plain  baseboard,  and  Fig.  83  one 
of  complex  construction.  Two  styles  of  fac- 
ings are  shown  in  Fig. 
84.  The  one  style  forms 
lodging  places  for  dirt ; 


Fig.  82. 
A  plain  base  board. 


Fig.  83. 
A  complex  base  board. 


the  other  reduces  dust  catching  to  the  mini- 
mum. I  notice  that  some  of  the  newer  pas- 
senger coaches,  though  most  elegant,  are  built 
with    smooth    inside    finish.      With    the    excep- 


184 


The   Farmstead 


tion  of  the  window  sills  there  are  no  lodg- 
ing places  for  dust  and  cinders.  The  old- 
fashioned  doors  with  thin  panels,  and  numer- 
ous moldings  have  been  discarded,  and  those 
as    plain    and   uniform   in   thickness    as    a   pane 


of  window  glass,  substituted  for  them.  The 
picture  molding,  as  shown  in  Fig.  85,  may 
serve  to  support  the  picture  and  catch  dirt  as 
well.  The  other  illustration  (Fig.  86)  shows  one 
which  may  serve  quite  as  well  for  the  pur- 
pose desired  without  forming  a  dust  shelf.  If 
the  window  sashes  are  made  with  plain  bevels 
and  not  molded,  and  all  other  window  fixtures, 
as   stops   and   the    like,    are   constructed    in    the 


Wainscoting   and   Stairivays  185 

same  way,  the  labor  of  keeping  the  house  clean 
will    be   greatly  reduced. 

The  wainscoting  and  the  ceilings, 
if  they  are  made  of  wood,  should  be 
constructed  of  wide  boards,  the  cracks 
being  covered  with  beveled  battens. 
The  old-fashioned,  beaded,  narrow  ceiling 
Fig  ^  material  is  not  only  difficult  to  keep 
The  common  tinted    or    varnished,     but    almost    for- 

.Tmt   faulty  -.,-,■,. 

picture  bids  cleanliness . 

moulding.  Most  stairs  are  too  steep  ;  some 
are  little  better  than  ladders  and  more  danger- 
ous. The  risers  in  the  main  stairway  should  not 
exceed  6%  inches,  nor  the  steps  be  less  than 
12  inches  wide.  The  back  stair  may  have  7  to 
7%  inches  risers,  and  10-  to  11-inch  steps. 
The  best  and  most  beautiful  stair  has 
one  or  more  broad  landings.  The 
spiral  or  "corkscrew"  stair  is  worst 
of  all.  The  effort  to  economize  space 
by  cramping  the  stair  is  almost  univer- 
sal. The  difference  between  a  cramped 
stair  and  an  ample  one  may  not 
amount  to  more  than  12  square  feet  of 
space,  equivalent  to  the  top  of  a  small 
table.  True,  the  children  may  go  up  an  easy 
stair  two  steps  at  a  time,  but  when  their  hair 
whitens  they  will  bless  the  man  who  knew  the 
difference  between  an ,  easy,    dignified   stair   and 


186  The   Farmstead 

a  step-ladder.  Diminish  the  size  of  a  room, 
add  a  foot  to  the  width  of  the  house,  do 
anything  rather   than    cramp    the    stairway. 

As  far  as  possible  paint  should  be  kept  on2 
the  inside  woodwork.  There  are  but  few  varieties 
of  wood  which  may  not  be  made  smooth  ;  and 
by  the  use  of  hard  oil,  which  is  really  oil  and 
varnish  mixed  together,  all  woodwork  becomes 
beautiful  and  can  be  easily  cleaned.  It  appears 
almost  sacrilegious  to  cover  the  fine  grain  of  our 
native  woods  with  cheap,  adulterated  paint.  If 
some  of  the  woods,  such  as  ash,  oak  and  chest- 
nut, be  sawed  "on  the  quarter"  and  properly 
finished,  they  become  more  elegant  and  are  in 
better  taste  than  any  of  the  imported  high-priced 
woods.  The  farm  house  should  be  plain,  sub- 
stantial, and  durable,  and  in  many  cases  there  is 
sufficient  wealth  to  make  it  elegant  and  even 
refined  by  decorating  the  walls  with  a  few  fine 
pictures  and  providing  useful  books.  We  judge 
people  somewhat  by  the  furnishings  of  the 
rooms  in  which  they  live,  and  by  their  appre- 
ciation of  things  which  are  really  beautiful  and 
useful. 

The  comfort  and  elegance  of  the  rooms 
depend  quite  as  much  on  the  plastered  walls 
as  on  their  wooden  finish.  Few  things  are 
more  annoying  than  poor  walls,  which  may  fall 
at   any  time   upon   the   furniture  and   rugs,  and 


Plastering   the   House  187 

may  even  endanger  the  lives  of  the  little  ones. 
With  quick -lime  and  sand  and  an  honest  and 
efficient  workman,  a  good,  durable  wall  may  be 
secured ;  provided,  however,  that  the  joists  and 
studding  are  strong  enough  to  prevent  vibra- 
tion when  the  floors  are  walked  upon  or  the 
doors    are    closed    quickly. 

In  plastering,  the  green- coat  finish  should  not 
be  adopted,  since  poorer  walls  will  inevitably  be 
the  result  than  by  the  scratch -coat  method.  To 
the  new  settler  on  the  prairies  living  in  a  cov- 
ered wagon,  the  time  consumed  in  building  a 
house  was  important;  therefore  the  second  coat 
of  plaster  was  put  on  a  few  hours,  after  the 
first.  The  pressure  required  to  spread,  level, 
and  smooth  the  second  coat  often  disturbed  the 
clinches  formed  by  the  first  coat.  The  bond  of 
these  mortar  clinches  being  broken  or  disturbed, 
the  wall  was  made  weak.  It  is  well  known  that 
if  the  bond  between  the  lath  and  mortar  is  once 
broken  after  the  mortar  sets,  it  never  reunites. 
The  only  safe  way  to  place  a  wall  when  the 
common  mortar  is  used  is  by  the  scratch -coat 
method.  This  consists  in  allowing  the  first  coat 
to  become  fully  dry,  having,  however,  scratched 
the  surface  of  the  plaster  slightly  soon  after  it 
is  put  on.  When  it  is  perfectly  dry  the  second 
coat  is  placed,  and  when  this  is  dry,  a  third 
(skim)    coat    may  be    added,   which    should    be 


188  The   Farmstead 

but  little  thicker  than  whitewash.  This  leaves 
the  wall  smooth  and  nearty  white.  However, 
many  walls  are  now  finished  on  the  second  coat 
which  is  left  level  but  rough,  and  may  be  tinted 
by  mixing  coloring  material  with  the  mortar. 
The  quality  of  the  wall  depends  largely  upon  the 
mixing  of  the  mortar  and  the  amount  of  firm 
troweling  which  it  receives.  The  fewer  interstices 
between  the  particles  of  sand  the  better.  Firm, 
persistent  troweling  tends  to  reduce  interstices, 
and  hence  to  make  the  wall  firm  and  strong. 
Plastered  walls  are  much  strengthened  by  being 
painted,  and  wherever  such  painting  is  appropri- 
ate, as  in  the  bathroom,  wardrobe,  and  kitchen, 
they  should  receive  two  coats  of  light  cream 
color  or  other  warm -colored  paint. 

A  new  mixture,  cement  and  hair,  or  wood- 
fiber,  has  been  put  on  the  market,  and  is  likely 
to  be  used  extensively,  for  when  properly  used  a 
stronger,  harder,  and  more  durable  wall  is  se- 
cured than  by  using  the  ordinary  stone  lime  and 
sand  mortar.  This  cement  is  sold  under  a  va- 
riety of  names,  and  is  usually  known  by  the 
builders  under  the  generic  name,  adamant  or 
adamant  plaster.  It  is  put  up  in  barrel  pack- 
ages, and  sells  in  central  New  York  from  $2  to 
$2.50  per  barrel,  wholesale.  It  is  mixed  in 
small  quantities  immediately  before  using,  in  the 
proportion   of    one  of   cement   to   two   of   sharp 


Adamant   Plaster  189 

sand.  One  barrel  suffices  for  thirty  square 
yards  of  two -coat  work,  three  -  fourth  -  inch 
grounds  being  used  ;  seven -eighth -inch  grounds 
are  required  for  three -coat  work.  As  mortar 
made  of  this  material  sets  quickly,  the  laths 
should  be  thoroughly  wet  before  the  mortar  is 
applied,  and  the  rooms  should  be  closed  while 
the  work  is  ;  progressing,  or  the  mortar  will 
harden  too  rapidly.  Not  only  plastering  mortar, 
but  that  used  for  other  purposes  which  depends 
on  cement  for  its  binding  force,  should  not  be 
allowed  to  dry  out  rapidly. 

One  serious  objection  is  urged  against  walls 
made  of  cement  mortar,— it  being  said  that 
they  are  so  resonant  as  to  be  annoying.  To 
overcome  this  objection  the  walls  of  one  public 
building  were  covered  with  burlap  and  painted. 
Notwithstanding  the  objections  raised  against 
cement  plastered  walls,  they  are  likely  to  come 
into  common  use,  since  they  are  so  superior  in 
hardness  and  durability  to  the  old  style  wall. 

Ordinarily,  a  full  year  should  be  allotted  for 
building  the  house,  and  it  should  not  be  occu- 
pied until  it  has  become  thoroughly  dried  out. 
Perhaps  this  hint  of  the  unsanitary  condition  of 
a  damp  house  may  be  sufficient  for  the  Ameri- 
can. In  Germany  the  law  requires  that  a  new 
house  must  have  been  completed  a  full  half  year 
before  it  may  be  occupied. 


190  The   Farmstead 


HEATING    AND    VENTILATION 

In  the  future  as  in  the  past,  most  farm 
houses,  without  doubt,  will  be  heated  by  stoves. 
However,  some  farmers  will  desire  either  an  air, 
water,  or  steam  heater.  Air  heaters  are  danger- 
ous, because  if  the  valves  are  not  properly  man- 
aged, the  pipes  may  become  superheated  and  may 
set  the  building  on  fire.  They  carry  fine  dust 
into  the  rooms,  and  the  heat  cannot  be  evenly 
distributed  when  the  house  is  exposed  to  the  full 
force  of  the  wind,  as  it  usually  is  in  the  country. 
The  system  of  heating  by  means  of  hot  water 
has  many  objections  when  used  in  the  farm 
house.  The  water  in  the  pipes  is  likely  to  freeze 
at  night  in  the  unused  rooms  if  it  is  cut  on2;  if 
it  is  left  on,  all  the  rooms  must  be  heated, 
which  is  frequently  not  desirable.  Then,  too, 
heat  cannot  be  secured  as  quickly  in  the  morn- 
ing as  desired,  and  in  case  of  too  much  heat, 
the  rooms  cool  slowly  unless  doors  or  windows 
are  opened.  The  first  cost  of  placing  a  steam 
heating  plant  is  expensive,  but  once  in  place  it 
is  most  satisfactory.  Wherever  steam  power 
can  be  used  to  advantage  in  the  dairy,  the  steam 
plant  might  well  be  placed  in  one  end  of  the 
summer  kitchen  or  in  the  wood  house,  where  it 
may  be  separated  from  the  balance  of  the  room 
by  a   partition.      There   is   no   more   danger   of 


Household  Steam    Plant  191 

fire  from  a  boiler  than  from  a  stove.  The  one 
plant  which  furnishes  steam  and  hot  water  for 
various  purposes,  such  as  churning,  sawing  wood, 
and  pumping  water,  need  not  be  more  expensive 
if  it  also  is  made  to  serve  for  heating  the 
house. 

A  simple  contrivance  now  in  common  use, — 
when  several  buildings  are  heated  from  a  cen- 
tral station, — serves  to  govern  the  amount  and 
pressure  of  steam  introduced  into  the  building. 
The  farm  steam  plant  should  be  situated,  when 
possible,  below  the  level  of  the  radiators  on  the 
first  floor,  that  the  warm  water  from  the  con- 
densed steam  may  be  used  again  in  the  boiler 
instead  of  cold  water.  In  the  long  run,  this 
system  would  heat  the  house  more  cheaply  than 
stoves,  require  less  care -taking,  and  be  cleaner 
and  more  satisfactory  in  every  way. 

Much  has  been  written  about  ventilation;  and 
too  often  the  systems  applicable  to  ventilating 
large,  overcrowded  rooms  and  public  halls  have 
been  applied  to  dwellings.  However  complex 
and  difficult  the  ventilation  of  large  buildings 
may  be,  the  ventilation  of  a  room  in  a  dwelling 
is  simple,  If  there  are  two  or  more  windows  in 
a  room,  ideal  ventilation  can  be  secured  by  rais- 
ing the  lower  and  lowering  the  upper  sash  as 
much  as  desired.  By  this  method  three  streams 
of  air  are  allowed  to  enter  or  leave  the  room,  as 


192  The   Farmstead 

there  will  be  openings  at  the  top,  bottom  and 
middle  of  the  windows.  The  impure  air  is 
largely  found  at  the  top  of  the  room  and  at  the 
bottom.  If,  then,  the  warmer  and  lighter  air  is 
allowed  to  escape  at  the  top,  the  colder  air  will 
rush  in  at  the  bottom,  which  will  result  in  keep- 
ing it  moving  as  water  moves  when  the  inflow 
is  at  or  near  the  bottom  of  a  vessel  and  the 
outflow  near  the  top.  Whenever  only  one  win- 
dow can  be  secured  in  the  sleeping  room,  large 
transoms  should  be  placed  over  the  doors  into 
the  hall.  While  this  method  does  not  ventilate 
as  well  as  the  other,  it  serves  to  keep  the  air 
pure  in  the  chamber.  When  there  are  many 
rooms  situated  on  one  hall,  the  hall  should  be 
ventilated  by  means  of  windows  at  its  end,  or  at 
the  top  of  the  house.  Many  farm  houses  are 
over -ventilated  in  winter,  the  cold  air  entering 
the  loose  casements  until  the  wash  water  ex- 
pands and  breaks  the  pitcher.  In  such  cases 
storm  sashes  are  a  necessity,  and  are  more  eco- 
nomical than  feather  beds  or  coal  in  preserving 
a  living  temperature. 


CHAPTER   XI 

HOUSE    FURNISHING   AND   DECORATION 

House  furnishings  do  not  exist  for  them- 
selves, but  as  a  background  for  the  people 
who  live  among  them.  Just  as  the  trees, 
rocks,  fields  and  animals  have  for  their  set- 
ting the  green  earth  and  the  blue  sky,  and 
as  pictures  have  a  background,  a  middle  dis- 
tance and  a  foreground,  so  human  beings  have 
their  setting.  If  the  setting  be  more  striking 
or  more  elegant  than  the  people  for  whom 
it  exists,  they  are  made  uncomfortable  and 
overshadowed  by  it;  if  meaner  and  uglier  than 
they,  the  people  are  belittled  by  it.  How  many 
houses  there  are  whose  furnishings  are  much 
more  attractive  than  their  inhabitants !  A 
woman  of  superficial  education  and  trivial 
character  has  the  distinction  of  having  the 
most  beautiful  library  in  her  state;  rows  on 
rows  of  the  best  books,  in  beautiful  bindings,  in 
a  room  of  the  most  artistic  design,  and  nobody 
to  read  them.  The  contrast  between  the  woman 
and  her  environment  is  pitiful. 

The  house  and  its  contents  should  be  an  out- 

M  (193) 


194  The   Farmstead 

growth  of  the  tastes,  habits  and  occupation  of 
its  owners.  Farm  life  in  its  best  aspect  is  a 
synonym  for  breadth,  generosity,  simplicity, 
cleanliness,  abundance  of  sunlight,  fresh  air  and 
good  food,  the  beauty  of  nature,  freedom  from 
stiff  formality  —  these  are  the  things  which  the 
city  dweller  envies  the  farmer.  The  equipment 
of  the  house  should  express  this  breadth,  beauty, 
and  freedom  of  life.  It  follows  from  this  that 
many  pieces  of  furniture  and  some  kinds  of 
decoration  which  are  offered  in  the  shops  are 
quite  out  of  place  in  a  country  house.  Imitation 
is,  therefore,  a  dangerous  principle,  for  it  is  likely 
to  lead  to  the  choice  and  purchase  of  articles 
which,  however  suitable  for  some  other  family 
and  pretty  in  themselves,  are  wholly  inappro- 
priate in  the  case  of  the  purchaser. 

There  are  three  main  considerations  which 
should  always  be  taken  into  account  in  house- 
furnishing  :  health,  suitability,  and  beauty.  The 
order  of  these  is  often  reversed  to  the  perma- 
nent injury  of  the  housewife.  The  first  law  of 
hygiene  is  that  nothing  can  be  suitable  which  is 
not  wholesome  for  those  who  are  to  use  it ;  the 
first  law  of  decorative  art  is  that  nothing  is 
beautiful  which  is  not  wholly  suitable.  If  these 
principles  should  be  applied  to  the  furnishing  of 
country  houses,  they  would  taboo  dark,  thick 
window  draperies,  nearly   all   bric-a-brac,  heavy 


Neutral   Background  195 

upholstered  furniture,  parlor  tea-tables  filled 
with  delicate  (and  generally  dusty)  china,  and 
many  other  things  which  have  been  copied  from 
the  unwholesome  and  perhaps  necessary  customs 
of  city  life. 

Taste  is  a  matter  of  cultivation,  as  much  as 
efficiency  or  honesty;  the  habitual  application  of 
its  fundamental  principles  in  one's  own  house- 
hold, and  the  seeing  of  beautiful  things  else- 
where, are  the  chief  means  of  its  development. 
Man  obtained  his  first  conception  of  beauty  from 
the  form  and  color  which  he  saw  in  the  world 
about  him,  and  we  have  only  to  apply  the  prin- 
ciples which  are  there  apparent,  in  order  to  d 
velop  good  taste.  Nature  provides  an  immense 
and  comparatively  neutral  background ;  Nature 
always  makes  curves,  never  angles  ;  Nature 
blends  the  most  sharply  contrasting  colors  to- 
gether in  the  butterfly's  wing,  in  the  poppies  in 
a  meadow,  and  in  the  feathers  of  the  robin's 
breast.  The  greater  part  of  the  world  is  in  soft 
colors,  browns  and  grays,  dull  greens  and  dull 
blues;  the  brilliant  yellows,  reds,  pinks,  purples 
and  blues  are  always  in  very  small  quantities 
against  this  very  large,  neutral  background. 
Since  the  furnishings  of  a  house  are  the  setting 
of  the  people,  none  of  them  should  be  more 
conspicuous  than  the  people.  Whatever  brilliant 
color  there  is  must  be  in  relatively  small   quan- 


196  The   Farmstead 

tities  against  a  soft  background.     Nothing  either 
in  form  or  color  should  "stick  out." 

If  the  general  principles  just  laid  down  be 
applied  to  the  details  of  house  furnishing,  we 
shall  find  that  many  matters  must  be  changed. 
Since  the  housewife  must  usually  do  her  own 
work  with  very  little  or,  at  most,  inadequate 
help,  everything  should  be  planned  to  save  her 
strength.  If  we  remember,  also,  that  the  first 
effort  of  good  housekeeping  is  to  keep  dirt  out 
of  the  house,  and  the  second  to  get  it  out  at 
once,  it  will  appear  that  carpets  are  unsanitary. 
It  has  already  been  shown  that  good  floors 
are  now  to  be  had  easily  and  cheaply.  If  prop- 
erly painted  or  finished  with  oil  and  wax,  they 
form  the  best  foundation  for  tasteful  and  cleanly 
housekeeping.  Carpets  not  only  keep  the  dirt 
in  the  house,  but  they  involve  that  annual  bug- 
bear, house-cleaning.  Even  when  the  floors  are 
old  and  poor,  the  space  around  the  edge  of  a  rug 
may  be  puttied  and  painted  so  as  to  look  very 
well  when  the  rug  is  put  down.  By  rugs,  I  do 
not  mean  several  little  rugs,  like  oases  in  the 
slippery  surface,  or  at  the  doorways  to  trip  the 
unwary,  but  a  good,  generous -sized  rug  which 
just  escapes  the  edges  of  the  heavier  furniture 
around  the  sides  of  the  room  ;  which  is  substan- 
tial enough  not  to  roll  up,  and  which  is  yet 
small  enough  to  be   carried  in   and  out  by  one 


Appropriate   Furniture  197 

person.  If  the  woodwork  and  pictures  be  wiped 
with  a  damp  cloth,  the  windows  washed,  the 
floor  dusted,  and  the  rug  beaten  out  of  doors, 
now  and  then,  no  such  terrible  upheaval  as 
house-cleaning  usually  implies,  is  necessary. 
Rugs  may  be  had  ready-made  of  ingrain,  Jap- 
anese cotton,  and  jute,  Brussels,  and  more  ex- 
pensive materials,  but  should  always  be  heavy 
enough  to  lie  fiat  without  fastening  and  large 
enough  to  cover  the  entire  portion  of  the  floor 
which  is  to  be  walked  upon.  The  uncovered 
space  should  usually  not  be  wider  than  one  and 
one -half  feet. 

All  furniture  that  is  not  actually  built  into 
or  fastened  to  the  wall  and  floors  should  be 
easily  movable  and  easily  cleaned.  This  at 
once  precludes  the  purchase  of  heavy,  uphol- 
stered chairs  and  large  sofas.  Wicker  and 
rattan  furniture,  though  not  so  artistic  and 
costly  as  antique  wood,  is  very  light,  and  with 
good  removable  hair  cushions,  may  be  made 
quite  as  comfortable  and  far  more  cleanly  than 
upholstered  plush  and  damask.  The  cushions 
may  be  beaten  at  the  same  time  as  the  rugs,  and 
the  dust  thus  taken  out  of  the  house.  White 
enameled  bedsteads  and  washstands  are  rapidly 
superseding  the  heavy  wooden  ones.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  although  the  persons  of  a 
family  are  of  various  sizes   and   ages,  chairs  are 


198  The   Farmstead 

still  bought  by  the  half  dozen,  without  reference 
to  the  people  who  are  to  sit  upon  them.  Even 
in  such  minor  matters  as  chairs  and  tea -cups, 
some  account  should  be  taken  of  individu- 
ality. 

If  all  furniture  be  selected  with  these  simple 
principles  in  mind,  i.  e.,  hygienic  cleanliness,  the 
minimum  of  labor  for  the  housewife,  and  the  com- 
fort of  those  who  are  to  use  it,  there  remains 
only  one  other  way  in  which  to  go  astray:  it 
may  still  be  superlatively  and  positively  ugly;  or 
it  may  be  comfortable,  sanitary,  easily  moved, 
and  yet  be  merely  negatively  ugly;  or  it  may  be 
made  decorative  by  its  graceful  form,  the  color 
of  its  covering,  or  the  carving  upon  it.  The 
first  principle  of  artistic  decoration  is  that  it 
must  be  wholly  subordinated  to  the  use  of  the 
object  which  it  adorns.  For  instance,  windows 
are  for  two  purposes:  to  light  the  house  and  for 
seeing  out.  If  a  window  opens  on  a  barnyard 
or  some  unpleasant  prospect,  you  may  put  up  a 
sash  curtain  of  light  silk  or  muslin.  Thus  you 
obtain  light  but  no  view.  But  if  you  wish  to 
see  out  of  the  window,  sash  curtains  are  absurd. 
In  the  ordinary  private  house,  elaborate  and 
heavy  window  curtains  are  out  of  place,  both  for 
sanitary  and  artistic  reasons.  Whenever  cleanli- 
ness is  a  prime  object,  drapery  should  be 
movable    and  washable.      Silk   and  velvet   dra- 


Colonial    Chairs   and    Tables  199 

peries  are  only  to   be  tolerated  where  there  is  a 
retinue  of  maids  to  keep  them  clean. 

The  facility  and  cheapness  of  mill -work  and 
lathe -work  in  wood  has  vitiated  the  taste  of 
Americans  to  a  terrible  degree.  Nearly  all  ready- 
made  furniture  is  grooved,  machine -carved, 
and  ornamented  in  a  way  to  violate  not  only 
the  principles-  of  beauty,  but  of  strength  and 
cleanliness  as  well.  Ornament  that  does  not 
mean  anything  is  not  merely  commonplace  but 
ugly.  There  are  four  chairs  of  different  patterns, 
and  costing  from  $1.50  to  $15,  in  the  room 
where  I  sit;  all  of  them  have  legs.  Now,  legs  are 
intended  as  a  support,  yet  all  these  are  grooved 
and  beaded  and  hollowed  out  in  spots,  so  that 
twice  as  much  material  as  is  necessary  has  been 
used  to  insure  support.  The  ornamentation  is 
not  pretty,  the  hollows  are  inevitably  full  of 
dust,  and  they  mean  absolutely  nothing  to  any- 
body who  sees  them.  On  the  front  crosspiece  of 
one  large  chair  is  glued  a  design  of  leaves  in 
oak,  by  way  of  ornament.  If  these  had  been 
carved  out  upon  a  beautiful  strip  of  wood  by  the 
hand  of  a  cunning  workman,  they  would  at  least 
have  meant  a  man's  thought  and  skill.  As  they 
are,  they  suggest  merely  a  machine  and  a  glue 
pot,  and  thousands  of  others  as  hideous  as  they. 
Contrast  with  this  gingerbread  furniture  the 
plain,  substantial  colonial  chairs  and  tables  and 


200  The   Farmstead 

sideboards,  made  of  beautiful  wood,  almost 
without  ornamentation,  with  shapely,  slender, 
and  strong  legs  and  softly  polished  by  hand. 
Cheapness  and  quantity  have  been  secured 
by  machinery  at  the  expense  of  beauty  and 
strength. 

If  the  principle  thus  illustrated  be  true,  then 
it  follows  that  patterns  of  any  sort,  whether  in 
carpets,  wall  paper,  china,  or  drapery,  must  be 
very  carefully  used  that  they  may  not  be  more 
conspicuous  than  that  which  they  decorate.  The 
floor  and  the  wall  are  the  basis  both  of  color- 
scheme  and  decoration.  They  are  the  back- 
ground of  the  people  who  are  to  live  there ; 
they  should,  therefore,  be  rather  inconspicuous, 
soft  and  indefinite  in  effect,  and  as  becoming 
as  possible  to  the  human  figures.  If  the  climate 
be  sunny  and  the  room  well  lighted,  the  walls 
and  floor  may  be  dark  and  rich  in  effect ;  if  the 
climate  be  uncertain  and  often  cloudy,  or  the 
room  badly  lighted,  the  effect  should  be  light 
and  gay.  Color  is  the  chief  means  of  producing 
this  result :  the  walls  and  floors  of  living  rooms 
should  be  of  soft,  neutral  brown,  yellow,  red, 
green,  or  warm  gray  tints.  Blue,  though  very 
lovely  when  carefully  used,  is  cold  in  effect,  and 
seldom  satisfactory  for  living  rooms,  while  the 
blue  grays  are  positively  chilling.  Yellow  in 
paler  or  richer  shades,  depending  on  the  light- 


Bugs   and   Floors  201 

ing  of  the  room,  is  uniformly  cheerful  and  satis- 
fying ;  next  to  it  rank  the  various  terra  cotta 
shades.  Neither  rug  nor  wall -covering  should 
have  large,  striking  designs  ;  if  having  pattern 
at  all,  it  should  rather  be  of  an  indefinite, 
wandering  design  like  the  Japanese  jute  rugs, 
or  of  small  inconspicuous  conventional  design, 
such  as  may _  be  found  in  the  best  Brussels 
carpet. 

If  the  floors,  howeve^,  be  poor  and  old  they 
may  be  covered  very  inexpensively  with  thick, 
strong  building  paper  which  comes  in  beautiful 
tints  and  the  rug  may  be  laid  on  top  of  this  ;  or 
with  denim  on  top  of  newspapers,  which  is  only 
a  little  more  expensive,  and  which  may  be  had 
in  a  variety  of  beautiful  shades  ;  or,  best  of  all, 
with  matting  on  top  of  paper.  Matting  is 
especially  desirable  because  the  dust  sifts 
through  below,  and  does  not  rise  easily  when 
swept.  But  the  mon^y  spent  to  cover  up  a  poor 
floor  would  often  serve  to  lay  a  good  new  one, 
and  this  should  be  done  whenever  possible. 
For  kitchen  and,  in  some  cases,  for  a  dining 
room  floor  as  well,  nothing  is  so  satisfactory  as 
linoleum.  It  is  impervious,  warm,  soft  to  the 
foot,  easily  kept  in  order  by  an  occasional  coat 
of  oil,  and  to  be  had  in  agreeable  patterns.  It 
may  also  be  used  like  denim,  building  paper, 
and  matting,  to  cover  up  bad  floors,  and  as   a 


202  The   Farmstead 

basis  for  the  rug ;  while  more  expensive,  it  is 
also  much  more  satisfactory  than  anything  ex- 
cept a  good  hardwood  floor.  There  is  often 
far  too  great  contrast  between  the  furnishings 
of  the  living  room  and  the  parlor  ;  between  the 
"spare  room"  and  the  family  bedrooms.  The 
money  spent  in  elegance  which  is  shut  up  in  a 
room  rarely  used  would  serve  to  add  much  to 
the  comfort  of  the  whole  family.  The  guest  will 
enjoy  the  hospitality  offered  all  the  more  if  not 
treated  too  ceremoniously. 

The  furnishing  of  the  living  room  should  al- 
ways include  several  easy  chairs,  a  good  lounge, 
a  place  for  books  and  magazines,  and  a  thor- 
oughly good  reading  lamp.  If  it  can  be  af- 
forded, a  small  room  off  the  sitting  room  for 
writing  and  study  is  very  desirable.  It  should 
contain  book  shelves,  a  large  writing  table  or 
desk,  and  a  good  lamp.  But  if  the  extra  room 
cannot  be  had,  the  desk  and  book  shelves  may 
be  placed  in  the  parlor.  There  should  certainly 
be  some  place  where  the  children  may  study  or 
any  member  of  the  family  may  read  and  write 
uninterrupted.  It  is  as  irksome  to  write  without 
proper  appliances  as  to  bathe  without  proper 
facilities. 

The  furniture  and  decorations  of  bedrooms 
can  scarcely  be  too  simple ;  the  walls  may  be 
lighter  and   gayer   than  those   of    living   rooms. 


Bedroom   Furnishing  203 

Blue  and  white  or  pale  green  and  white  may  be 
used  as  color- schemes  for  very  sunny  bedrooms, 
yellow  or  pink  and  white  for  less  sunny  ones. 
One  or  two  single,  white,  enamelled  iron  bed- 
steads, a  washstand,  a  bureau  or  a  chest  of 
drawers  with  glass  above,  two  or  three  low,  light 
chairs,  and  a  table  or  desk  at  which  one  may 
write,  is  an  ample  furnishing,  if  there  be  a  good 
closet  or  wardrobe.  The  rug  need  be  only  large 
enough  to  cover  the  space  in  front  of  the  bed, 
bureau,  and  stand,  if  the  floor  be  well  matched 
and  painted  or  oiled.  A  bedroom  should  give 
the  impression  of  spotlessness  and  comfort; 
everything  should  be  washable  or  cleanable  ;  un- 
less used  also  as  a  sitting  room,  it  should  not 
have  a  superfluous  article  in  it.  Mats,  bric- 
a-brac,  even  many  pictures,  are  quite  out  of 
place. 

Since  cost,  styles  and  tastes  differ  so  widely 
in  different  localities,  no  detailed  directions  can 
or  should  be  given  that  will  be  generally  appli- 
cable. If  the  principles  illustrated  in  this  chap- 
ter be  correct,  they  will  serve  to  guide  and  to 
develop  the  taste  of  many  different  kinds  of 
persons. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CLEANLINESS   AND    SANITATION—  WATER  SUPPLY 
AND  SEWAGE 

Filth  and  disease  have  gone  hand  in  hand 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world;  bnt  only  dur- 
ing the  last  quarter -century  have  we  known  the 
true  cause  of  infection,  and  why  it  is  so  closely 
associated  with  dirt.  The  danger  of  uncleanli- 
ness  lies  in  the  existence  of  certain  microscopic 
organisms  belonging  to  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
known  popularly  as  microbes  or  germs,  but  more 
properly  as  bacteria.  Bacteria,  like  the  plants 
with  which  we  are  more  familiar,  thrive  in  mois- 
ture and  moderate  heat,  but  differ  from  them  in 
many  respects.  Some  of  the  more  striking 
differences  are  structure  and  method  of  repro- 
duction, many  of  them  possessing  the  faculty  of 
growing  without  sunlight.  Bacteria  are  com- 
posed of  minute  masses  of  vegetable  matter 
which  vary  from  one  ten -thousandth  to  one- 
thirty  thousandth  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  they 
reproduce  by  simple  division.  This  process  of 
multiplication  may  occur  as  often  as  once  in 
half    an  hour  ;    thus   immense  numbers  may  de- 

(204) 


Bacteria  205 

velop  in  a  very  short  time.  Under  conditions 
unfavorable  for  growth,  some  species  may  form 
within  their  interior  dense  masses  which  are  called 
spores.  These  resemble  the  seeds  of  higher 
plants  in  their  function  of  distributing  the  spe- 
cies and  in  preserving  life  through  intervals  of 
time  unfavorable  for  continuous  multiplication. 

Bacteria  may  be  classified  in  several  ways, 
but  for  the  discussion  of  cleanliness  and  sanita- 
tion, the  simplest  division  is  into  the  harmless 
and  the  injurious.  The  harmless  forms  live 
mostly  on  dead  organic  matter,  causing  nitrifi- 
cation, fermentation,  and  putrefaction  ;  they 
break  down  the  more  complex  organic  com- 
pounds into  simpler  ones,  so  that  they  can  be 
used  again  as  food  for  plants.  Familiar  ex- 
amples of  this  are  seen  in  the  decay  of  meat 
and  vegetables.  This  class  is  more  numerous, 
much  hardier  than  the  other,  and  comprises  an 
overwhelmingly  large  proportion  of  the  bacteria 
in  nature. 

Bacteria  are  found  almost  constantly  in  water, 
in  soil,  and  in  air.  Consequently  they  are  pres- 
ent in  all  our  food,  except  that  which  has  been 
heated  to  kill  them.  Certain  bacteria  are  nor- 
mal inhabitants  of  the  mouth,  throat  and  intes- 
tines, while  others  find  suitable  conditions  for 
growth  on  the  skin  and  in  the  accumulation  of 
substances  excreted  in  the  perspiration. 


206  The   Farmstead 

Owing  to  the  short  time  which  has  been'  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  bacteria  and  their  func- 
tions, closer  attention  has  been  paid  to  the 
harmful  or  pathogenic '  bacteria  because  of  their 
relation  to  human  health.  This  one-sided  study 
of  bacteriology  has  blinded  us  to  the  beneficent 
action  of  many  bacteria,  and  has  caused  us  much 
unnecessary  fear  of  their  presence  in  food. 

The  harmful  bacteria  cause  disease  either  in- 
directly through  poisons  which  they  excrete  in 
food  products,  or  directly  by  poisons  or  toxins 
which  they  form  when  living  within  the  body. 
Although  harmless  bacteria  are  everywhere  pres- 
ent, the  pathogenic  or  harmful  varieties  are 
ordinarily  much  less  numerous.  It  should  be 
understood,  however,  that  many  of  the  so-called 
harmless  bacteria  are  the  cause  of  certain  de- 
compositions of  vegetable  and  animal  matter 
with  the  formation  of  substances  which  are 
detrimental  to  health.  This  is  illustrated  by  the 
occasional  cases  of  meat,  fish,  and  oyster  poi- 
soning. The  pathogenic  bacteria,  such  as  those 
of  tuberculosis,  typhoid  fever,  diphtheria,  and 
the  like,  constitute,  as  has  been  already  stated, 
a  small  number  of  species.  These  are  dissemi- 
nated through  various  channels,  such  as  the  milk 
and  the  water  supply,  and  by  persons  directly. 
When  they  are  introduced  into  dirty  and  un- 
wholesome homes,  they  find  in  the  filth  suitable 


Disinfectants  207 

conditions  for  their  multiplication,  with  the 
usual  consequence  of  causing  more  or  less  dis- 
ease in  the  family.  The  human  body  possesses 
more  or  less  power  of  resistance  to  bacteria,  but 
if  these  natural  forces  cannot  overcome  their 
invasion,  they  in  turn  will  be  successful  and 
produce  disease. 

Once  infected  with  disease -producing  bacteria, 
a  house  should  be  renovated  from  attic  to  cellar, 
and  subjected  to  the  action  of  agents  possessing 
the  power  of^  destroying  the  pathogenic  or- 
ganisms. Numerous  means  are  employed  to  kill 
bacteria,  among  them  being  the  use  of  disin- 
fectants in  the  form  of  liquids  or  gases,  and  the 
application  of  heat.  The  list  of  chemical  disin- 
fectants is  long,  but  owing  to  their  cost,  a  rela- 
tively small  number  are  available  for  the  disin- 
fection of  houses.  The  use  of  carbolic  acid, 
copperas,  whitewash,  and  the  fumes  of  burning 
sulfur  are  familiar  disinfectants  used  for  this 
purpose.  Among  the  disinfectants  which  can  be 
applied  directly  to  wounds,  to  prevent  suppura- 
tion, are  weak  solutions  of  corrosive  sublimate 
and  of  carbolic  acid. 

The  greater  number  of  bacteria,  pathogenic 
or  harmless,  which  do  not  form  spores,  are  de- 
stroyed by  a  temperature  of  155  degrees  Fahren- 
heit for  twenty  minutes.  Very  few  resist  the 
boiling  point;  thus  water  may  be  made   safe  by 


208  The    Farmstead 

boiling,  and  milk  by  Pasteurizing  at  155  degrees 
for  twenty  minutes.  Cold  merely  checks  the 
growth  of  bacteria,  bnt,  ordinarily,  does  not  de- 
stroy them.  Sunlight  and  fresh  air  are  espe- 
cially unfavorable  to  them;  therefore  the  house 
should  be  sunny,  and  beds,  bedrooms  and  living 
rooms  thoroughly  aired.  If  there  be  no  organic 
matter  to  serve  as  nutriment  for  them,  they  can- 
not multiply ;  therefore  the  body,  the  clothing, 
and  the  dwelling  should  be  kept  as  clean  as 
possible.  For  this  reason  the  first  test  of  good 
sanitation  is  the  immediate  removal  of  all  waste 
matter  from  the  house,  and  the  first  preventive 
of  disease  is  personal  cleanliness. 

In  Chapter  VI  suggestions  have  been  made 
concerning  the  site,  location,  and  drainage  of 
the  farm  house.  The  kind,  number,  and  con- 
venience of  the  sanitary  appliances,  such  as  hot 
water  boilers,  closets,  lavatories,  and  baths,  are 
chiefly  dependent  upon  the  water-supply.  If 
there  be  an  abundance  from  a  town  water-main, 
or  from  a  windmill  or  house -tank  which  will 
give  some  pressure,  the  problem  of  plumbing  is 
comparatively  easy;  but  if  there  be  no  such 
supply,  it  becomes  far  more  difficult.  A  good 
water  supply  in  the  house  is  of  the  first  impor- 
tance ;  therefore,  for  several  reasons,  plumbing 
conveniences  lessen  the  work  of  the  housewife 
by    half,    they    encourage   the   practice   of    that 


Personal    Cleanliness  209 

virtue  which  is  "  next  to  godliness,"  and  if 
properly  arranged  they  do  away  with  many  sani- 
tary dangers.  Personal  cleanliness  is  irksome 
enough  with  every  convenience  for  washing  and 
bathing.  When  there  is  no  convenience  except 
a  wash  basin  and  a  quart  or  two  of  hot  water, 
habitual  cleanliness  is  practically  impossible. 
In  this  respect  town  and  city  life  have  an  im- 
mense advantage  over  rural  life.  A  woman  who 
had  moved  from  town  to  country  for  the  sake 
of  her  husband's  health,  was  asked  how  she 
liked  it :  she  said,  "  It  is  delightful,  but  I  some- 
times think  I  cannot  endure  it  on  account  of 
this  nasty  privy  and  no  bath-room."  Cleanli- 
ness of  the  skin  is  hygienical!  y  far  more  im- 
portant than  cleanliness  of  clothing.  In  ath- 
letics and  gymnastics,  the  bath  following  the 
exercise  is  considered  an  essential  part  of  their 
hygienic  value  ;  how  much  more  necessary,  then, 
is  opportunity  for  frequent  bathing,  where  the 
family,  both  in  and  out  of  doors,  do  daily 
manual  labor  which  causes  much  perspiration, 
and  which  is  often  very  dirty!  The  recent 
movement  in  cities  to  provide  public  bath-houses 
for  the  poor  in  tenements  should  not  outstrip 
the  farmer's  effort  to  obtain  equally  good 
facilities. 

If  there    be    a    sufficient   water   supply    avail- 
able, inhere  should  be  in  every  house  a  hot  water 

N 


210  The   Farmstead 

boiler  of  at  least  twenty  gallons  capacity,  at- 
tached to  the  kitchen  range,  to  supply  hot  water 
for  laundry  work  and  bathing ;  a  kitchen  sink 
and  a  bath-tub,  each  with  hot  and  cold  water 
faucets  and  waste  pipe  to  sewer  or  cesspool; 
and  a  water-closet.  These  are  the  essentials; 
but,  if  possible,  a  stationary  wash  stand  and  two 
laundry  tubs,  with  hot  and  cold  water  pipes, 
should  also  be  provided.  In  the  farm  house  it 
will  save  expense  and  many  steps  for  the  house- 
wife, and  will  encourage  frequent  use,  if  all 
these  be  located  on  the  first  floor  ;  the  boiler  in 
a  cupboard  in  the  wall  of  the  kitchen,  which 
may  be  shut  in  summer  and  opened  in  winter ; 
the  sink  in  the  kitchen,  or  if  preferred,  in  a 
pantry  between  the  dining  room  and  kitchen ; 
the  bath-room  and  stationary  washstand  in  a 
room  either  opening  out  of  the  kitchen  or  out 
of  the  family  bedroom,  or  out  of  a  rear  pas- 
sage ;  the  water-closet  should  be  in  some  well 
ventilated  space,  on  an  outside  wall,  where  the 
noise  of  the  fixture  will  be  as  little  heard  as 
possible.  It  should  have  an  outside  as  well  as 
an  inside  entrance.  It  is  customary  to  place 
the  closet  in  the  bath-room,  but  this  often  in- 
terferes with  the  general  use  of  the  washstand 
and  bath-tub  by  the  family,  and  should  be 
avoided.  The  nearer  all'  plumbing  fixtures  are 
to   each   other,   the   less    expensive   they   are   to 


Principles    of  Plumbing  211 

put  in  ;  therefore  in  planning  the  first  floor,  this 
point  should  receive  special  consideration. 

Certain  general  principles  apply  to  all  plumb- 
ing, and  may  serve  to  test  the  various  kinds  of 
fixtures  offered  for  sale.  All  foul  and  effete 
matter  should  be  immediately  and  completely 
removed  from  the  house  ;  any  back  current  of 
foul  air  into  the  house  should  be  prevented,  and 
any  communication  between  the  sewer  or  the 
cesspool  and  the  water  supply  should  be  made 
impossible.  Fixtures  should  be  as  simple  in 
construction  as  possible  and  easily  accessible. 
Pipes  were  formerly  enclosed  in  the  walls,  but 
in  the  finest  new  buildings  in  cities,  are  now 
placed  altogether  in  sight,  and  painted  the  color 
of  the  walls,  or  of  the  woodwork.  The  sewer 
pipe,  on  reaching  the  level  of  the  ground,  should 
pass  directly  out  of  the  house,  and  should  never 
be  carried  along  under  the  first  floor  of  the 
house.  In  the  southern  states  and  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  pipes  may  run  on  the  outside  of 
the  house,  thus  fulfilling  ideally  the  principle 
that  waste  matter  should  be  removed  from  the 
house  as  soon  as  possible.  A  few  years  ago 
there  was  much  controversy  over  the  placing 
of  vent  pipes  in  traps  and  in  branches.  Ger- 
hard and  the  older  sanitarians  advise  a  com- 
plicated and  elaborate  use  of  them,  but  Putnam 
and  the  more   recent   authorities   consider   thor- 


212  The    Farmstead 

ough  ventilation  of  the  soil  pipe  at  top  and 
bottom  quite  sufficient.  The  material  of  fix- 
tures should  be  good  (not  extravagant),  and  the 
workmanship  should  be  of  the  very  best.  The 
efficiency  of  any  sanitary  convenience  depends 
almost  as  much  upon  the  care  with  which  it  is 
put  in  as  upon  its  material  and  style.  But  of 
all  the  principles  of  sanitary  plumbing,  probably 
the  most  important  is  frequent  and  thorough 
flushing,  if  possible  with  hot  water.  Any  fix- 
ture will  become  foul  and  dangerous  if  there  is 
not  water  enough  and  under  sufficient  force  to 
scour  it  out  thoroughly. 

Having  laid  down  certain  principles  which 
apply  to  plumbing  fixtures  generally,  we  may 
now  consider  these  fixtures  more  in  detail. 
Pipes  should  be  rather  heavy.  Waste  pipes  are 
generally  too  large,  and  therefore  do  not  scour 
well ;  they  need  be  only  three  to  four  inches  in 
diameter  for  one  or  more  closets  in  an  ordinary 
house,  and  from  one  to  one  and  a -half  inches 
for  washbowls,  sinks,  and  tubs  ;  they  should 
always  be  of  uniform  size,  i.  e.,  "full-bore" 
throughout.  Soil  pipes  should  never  run  level, 
but  as  nearly  as  possible  at  a  uniform  slope  of 
not  less  than  one  foot  in  fifty. 

The  kitchen  sink  may  be  of  white  porcelain, 
enameled  iron,  painted  iron,  or  granite  ware,  any 
of    which   materials    are    serviceable    and   desir- 


Kitchen    Sinks  213 

able  ;  or  of  wood,  lined  with  lead,  zinc,  copper 
or  slate,  all  of  which  are  more  or  less  unde- 
sirable, because  after  some  use,  the  water  and 
filth  is  apt  to  get  in  between  the  wood  and  its 
covering,  or  because  they  are  not  durable.  The 
sink  should  have  as  little  woodwork  about  it  as 
possible,  since  wood  is  porous  and,  therefore, 
collects  filth.  It  should  be  set  open  on  brackets, 
and  not  over  a  dark,  moist,  dirt- collecting, 
back-breaking  closet.  Flushing  is  especially  im- 
portant in  the  case  of  the  kitchen  sink  because 
of  the  grease.  The  best  plumbing  provides  a 
grease -trap  outside  the  house,  which  may  be 
easily  cleaned;  but  whether  outside  or  immedi- 
ately beneath  the  sink,  the  trap  should  have  a 
screw -plug,  so  that  it  may  be  frequently  cleaned. 
It  follows  that  the  kitchen  waste  pipe  should  not 
be  too  large,  should  have  a  good  incline,  and  if 
possible  no  abrupt  curves,  so  that  cooling  grease 
in  the  water  may  not  harden  on  the  sides  of  the 
pipe  and  finally  fill  it  up.  The  use  of  a  cheap 
wire  screen  garbage  basket  in  the  sink  will  pre- 
vent the  small  particles  of  waste  from  passing 
down  the  pipe. 

Bath-tubs  of  white  earthenware  or  "  por- 
celain" are  the  most  expensive,  the  most  dur- 
able and  very  heavy  ;  of  white  enameled  iron, 
are  less  expensive  and  heavy,  durable  if  care- 
fully   used,    impervious    and   cleanly  ;    those    of 


214  The   Farmstead 

copper,  tinned  and  planished,  dent  easily  and 
the  tinning  wears  off,  but  are  fairly  durable  and 
still  less  expensive  ;  those  of  wood -fiber  are  not 
very  common,  but  are  impervious,  light  and 
cleanly. 

The  stationary  washstand  bowl  and  top  are 
usually  of  marble  ;  the  outlet  of  the  bowl 
should  not  be  smaller  than  the  wastepipe  ;  the 
trap  should  be  near  the  bowl,  and  have  a  screw 
plug,  so  that  obstructions  may  be  easily  removed. 

There  is  an  immense  variety  of  water-closets; 
those  should  be  especially  avoided  which  have 
moveable  machinery  in  connection  with  the 
bowl,  such  as  the  pan,  valve,  and  plunger 
closets.  Some  of  these  are  very  inexpensive, 
but  they  are  objectionable,  either  because  they 
rust  and  accumulate  filth,  or  because  they  get 
out  of  order  easily.  The  forms  of  closets  with- 
out movable  machinery  in  connection  with  the 
bowl,  that  is,  in  which  the  machinery  is  con- 
nected with  the  flushing  cistern,  such  as  the 
hopper,  the  siphon -jet,  and  the  washout  closets, 
are  to  be  preferred.  Any  washout  or  hopper 
closet  bought  from  a  responsible  firm  is  likely 
to  give  satisfaction,  if  thoroughly  flushed  and 
kept  in  order. 

Stationary  laundry  tubs  are  of  less  impor- 
tance than  these  other  plumbing  fixtures,  since 
there  are  several  excellent  washing  machines  the 


Laundry    Appliances  215 

use  of  which  does  away  with  the  necessity  for 
them.  If  one  must  choose  between  the  two,  the 
washing  machine  will  be  most  useful ;  but  if  one 
wishes  to  have  laundry  tubs  also,  they  come  in 
porcelain,  soapstone,  granite,  and  wood,  the 
latter  being  the  least  desirable. 

If  the  water  supply  be  limited,  as  when  a 
tank  is  supplied  by  pumping  from  a  cistern, 
the  hot  water  boiler,  the  ^bath-tub,  and  the 
stationary  washstand  may  be  arranged  almost 
as  easily  as  when  there  is  an  abundance  of 
water;  but  it  may  be  necessary  to  substitute  the 
dry -closet  for  the  water-closet. 

When  no  tank  supply  is  available,  and  all 
water  must  be  carried  from  a  cistern  or  from 
the  well  in  the  yard,  the  cost  of  plumbing  is 
very  small  and  the  discomfort  very  great.  Warm 
water  must*  be  supplied  chiefly  from  a  reservoir 
at  the  back  of  the  range,  thus  making  frequent 
bathing  very  inconvenient,  even  if  a  regular 
bath-tub  be  provided.  If,  however,  a  cesspool  be 
built  in  the  yard,  the  kitchen  sink,  the  slop- 
hopper,  the  bath-tub,  and  the  laundry  tub  may 
have  waste  pipes  to  it.  Such  waste  pipes)  vsave 
just  half  the  work,  for  the  water  has  to  be  carried 
only  to  the  fixture,  not  away  from  it  again. 
It  thus  seems  worth  while  to  have  the  fixtures, 
even  though  they  serve  only  half  their  purpose. 
A  slop -hopper  with  pipe  to  the  cesspool,  on  the 


216  The    Farmstead 

same  level  and  near  the  kitchen,  for  waste  wash 
water,  etc.,  from  the  chambers,  saves  many  steps, 
and  is  far  more  sanitary  than  throwing  slops  on 
the  ground  outside  the  house  or  carrying  them 
to  the   outhouse. 

The  chief  problem  is  the  outhouse,  or  privy 
vault.  There  is  no  more  disgusting  or  unsani- 
tary feature  of  rural  life  than  this  ill- smelling, 
dirty  hole  in  the  ground,  from  which  the  filth 
permeates  the  surrounding  soil,  and  may  con- 
taminate the  water  supply.  Much  discomfort 
and  some  digestive  ills  arise  from  the  neces- 
sity—  especially  for  women  —  of  going  a  consid- 
erable distance  in  cold  weather  and  at  night,  to 
such  places.  The  closet  should,  therefore,  be  as 
near  the  house  as  is  compatible  with  decency, 
and  should  be  reached  by  a  covered  walkway. 
If  properly  built  and  regularly  disinfected  and 
cleaned,  it  need  be  neither  disgusting  nor  un- 
sanitary. The  wooden  house  should  never  be 
papered  nor  carpeted,  but  should  be  painted  or 
whitewashed  yearly  and  kept  scrupulously  clean. 
The  habitual  use  of  ashes  or  dry  earth  in  the 
receptacle  and  an  occasional  application  of  some 
disinfectant,  such  as  copperas  or  chloride  of 
lime,  is  necessary.  If  drawers  are  used  in  the 
privy,  they  may  be  hauled  out  frequently  by 
horse;  and  with  the  liberal  use  of  road  dust,  no 
offense    arises.      The    writer    knows    a    country 


Disinfection  217 

house  in  which  dry- earth  closets  are  under  the 
house -roof,  and  yet  there  is  no  unpleasantness. 
Since  the  well  is  so  easily  contaminated  by  the 
seeping  through  the  soil  of  manure  and  human 
waste  matter,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  privy  vault  should  be  below  the  source  of 
water  supply  and  as  far  as  possible  from  it.  In 
the  following  pages  the  details  of  construction  of 
the  privy  vault  are  given,  the  relative  location 
of  it,  and  the  water  supply. 

Plumbing  fixtures,  like  all  other  mechanical 
contrivances,  to  be  efficient,  require  to  be  kept 
in  perfect  order.  Frequent,  thorough  flushing 
with  hot  water  whenever  possible,  and  disinfec- 
tion of  the  closet  and  the  sink,  are  especially 
desirable.  If  all  fixtures  be  set  "open"  and  all 
pipes  in  sight,  any  leakage  may  be  easily  de- 
tected and  remedied.  If  the  pipes  be  painted 
with  white  lead,  the  defect  will  be  discovered  by 
the  discoloration  of  the  paint. 

WATER   SUPPLY    AND    SEWAGE 

Water  in  abundance  for  the  domestic  animals 
should  be  provided  by  means  of  artificial  pools 
or  lakes,  situated  on  land  higher  than  the  barns, 
but  if  they  must  be  placed  below  the  level  of  the 
buildings,  aermotors  or  windmills  may  be  easily 
made  to  elevate  it  to  any  reasonable  height.     It 


218  The   Farmstead 

is  difficult  to  explain  why  more  miniature  lakes, 
in  which  to  store  water  for  all  except  culinary 
purposes,  are  not  constructed.  In  Fig.  7  it  is 
shown  how  easily  these  pools  may  be  made 
without  expensive  stone  dams,  and  after  the 
fashion  of  those  constructed  in  many  of  the 
southern  states. 

Wells,  in  many  places,  must  be  deep,  and 
then  often  furnish  but  a  meager  supply  of  water, 
while  cisterns  large  enough  to  supply  all  wants 
are  expensive.  In  addition  to  artificial  lakes, 
wells,  and  cisterns,  there  are  often  streams,  or 
best  of  all,  springs,  to  be  drawn  upon.  In  any 
case,  a  full  and  continuous  supply  of  water 
should  be  provided  before  buildings  are  con- 
structed if  annoyance,  loss,  and  unnecessary  labor 
are  to  be  obviated  and  the  best  sanitary  condi- 
tions secured  in  the  house.  Unless  the  water 
is  brought  into  the  house  under  a  constant  pres- 
sure, one  or  more  storage  tanks  should  be  pro- 
vided. They  should  be  placed  at  such  elevations 
as  will  secure  at  least  some  pressure  on  the  first 
floor  above  the  cellar.  The  storage  tank  may 
have  a  capacity  of  from  one  to  five  barrels,  and 
may  be  constructed  of  rough  or  planed  two -inch 
planks  and  lined  with  galvanized  iron,  if  the 
water  is  to  be  used  for  culinary  purposes ;  if  not, 
it  may  be  lined  with  lead.  The  tank,  which  may 
be  of  any  shape  desired,  may  be  placed  on  sup- 


Water    Supply  219 

ports  near  the  ceiling  of  the  bath-room,  or  the 
room  which  contains  the  commode,  or  at  one 
end  in  the  upper  part  of  the  clothes-press;  pro- 
vided, however,  that  the  discharge  pipe  is  made 
so  large  that  under  no  contingencies  will  the 
tank  overflow.  If  the  house  is  fairly  large  and 
the  cistern  capacious,  sufficient  water  may  be 
pumped  into  the  tank  from  the  cistern  in  a  few 
minutes  to  supply  all  wants  for  the  day.  From 
the  tank  it  will  flow  by  gravity  into  the  hot 
water  boiler  and  to  all  other  points  desired 
which  are  not  above  the  tank.  If  water  be 
raised  by  means  of  an  aermotor,  a  storage  tank 
will  still  be  necessary,  as  the  wind  may  fail  to 
operate  the  motor  for  an  entire  day.  By  what- 
ever means  water  is  secured,  the  supply  should 
be  ample  at  all  times.  Springs  and  wells  in  the 
middle  and  northern  states,  and  cisterns  in  the 
southern  states  will,  in  most  cases,  serve  to  sup- 
ply the  potable  water  needed,  but  these  are  too 
often  inadequate  to  supply  the  large  demand 
for  water  made  by  the  animals,  and  the  extra 
demand  for  water  in  the  house  made  by  cleaner 
and  more  sanitary  methods  of  living. 

In  using  water  in  the  household,  it  becomes 
mixed  with  a  great  variety  of  organic  substances 
which  pollute  it,  and  which  tend  to  putrefaction 
and  decay.  As  these  various  organic  substances 
break  down,  numerous  compounds  are  produced, 


220  The   Farmstead 

many  of  which  endanger  not  only  health  but  life 
itself;  it  is  therefore  evident  that  all  soiled  water 
should  be  removed  from  the  house  immediately 
and  by  the  shortest  practical  route.  But  what  to 
do  with  the  polluted  water  after  it  has  been  re- 
moved from  the  rooms,  becomes  one  of  the  most 
difficult  problems  of  modern  civilization.  The 
first  thought  is  to  empty  this  sewage  into  streams 
and  lakes;  but  those  living  on  the  streams  and 
in  the  cities  must  secure  their  water-supply  from 
these  sources.  It  is  evident,  then,  that  the 
streams  should  not  be  polluted.  The  next 
thought  is  to  distribute  the  sewage  over  the 
land,  but  this  method  is  usually  an  expensive 
one,  and  seldom  can  enough  sandy  land  be  se- 
cured to  absorb  and  filter  the  vast  quantities  of 
sewage  which  modern  conditions  make  necessary. 
On  the  farm  the  same  difficulties  are  pre- 
sented, and  the  problem  to  be  solved  differs  in 
degree  rather  than  in  kind.  If  dry -earth  closets 
are  used  on  the  farm,  there  is  still  the  kitchen 
and  laundry  sewage  to  be  provided  for.  While 
disposing  of  this,  provision  may  also  be  made 
for  the  night-soil,  thus  obviating  two  systems  of 
removing  waste  from  the  house.  However,  the 
earth- closet  will  reduce  the  amount  of  liquid 
sewage  and  increase  the  temptation  to  discharge 
it  into  the  streams  which,  above  all  things, 
should  be  avoided.     If  porous  or  sandy  lands  can 


Cesspools 


221 


nSCD> 


be  found  within  reasonable  distance  of  the  dwell- 
ing, and  yet  not  too  near  to  it  to  endanger 
health  or  pollute  the  water  supply,  a  cesspool 
may  be  constructed.  A  hole  some  ten  feet  in 
circumference  and  ten  to  twelve  feet  deep,  dug 
in  the  earth,  walled  with  stone  without  mortar, 
may  serve  for  catching  and  filtering  the  sewage. 
On  top  of  the  wall,  which  should  not  reach  the 
surface  of  the  ground  by  about  two  feet,  lay  two 
pieces  of  railroad  iron,  and  on  these  place  large 
flat  stones,  covering  all  with  dirt,  providing, 
however,  for  ventilation  by 
means  of  a  4-inch  iron 
pipe,  which  should  be  long 
enough  to  reach  a  little 
above  the  surface  of  the 
ground  when  all  is  com- 
pleted. 

If  the  soil  is  not  as  por- 
ous as  is  desired,  lay  sev- 
eral tile  or  stone  drains  at 
a  depth  of  three  to  five  feet, 
and  extend  them  from  the 
cesspool  some  distance  out 
into  the  field  or  grounds 
beyond.  (Fig.  87.)  These 
drains  should  have  free  outlets,  and  the  longer 
they  are  the  better.  At  the  outlet  of  the  drains 
plant"  willows    or   some   other  water-loving,  fast- 


Fig.  87.    Plan  of  a  cesspool. 


222  The   Farmstead 

growing  trees.  These  will  take  up  and  utilize 
vast  quantities  of  liquid  and  decomposed  solids, 
and  if  the  household  is  of  only  ordinary  size 
no  nuisance  will  result. 

If  water  is  limited  and  the  dry -earth  closet 
must  be  adopted,  then  the  cesspool  for  the 
kitchen  and  laundry  liquids  need  not  be  made  so 
large  as  described,  but  may  be  built  in  the  same 
manner.  The  dry-earth  closet  may  be  built  as 
follows  :  Construct  a  privy  of  suitable  size,  5  to 
20  feet  from  the  most  convenient  rear  door,  and 
connect  it  by  a  covered  walk  to  the  house.  The 
small  building  should  be  placed  not  less  than 
two  feet  above  the  ground,  on  a  good,  tight  wall, 
which  should  extend  under  three  sides  of  the 
building,  the  other  side  to  be  furnished  with  a 
hinged  door.  Secure  a  large,  iron -top,  dump 
wheelbarrow,  which  may  serve  to  hold  all  fcecal 
matter.  This  may  be  emptied  weekly  or  monthly 
into  a  nearby  trench,  previously  prepared.  A 
few  shovelfuls  of  earth  thrown  upon  the  ex- 
creta will  effectually  arrest  any  offensive  odors 
which  might  otherwise  arise.  Before  the  ground 
freezes  in  the  fall  dig  a  trench  of  sufficient 
length  to  contain  the  foecal  matter  during  the 
winter.  In  cold  weather  the  barrow  may  be 
inverted  over  the  trench,  and  by  the  application 
of  a  few  quarts  of  hot  water  to  the  iron  bottom 
the  frozen  material  will  be  released.     When  the 


Natural   Disinfectants  223 

ground  thaws,  the  accumulated  matter  may  be 
covered.  While  the  material  is  frozen  there  will 
be  no  danger  from  it.  It  should  be  said  that 
this  trench  would  better  be  dug  near  a  row  of 
trees  or  other  strong -growing  perennial  plants. 
These  will  quickly  take  up  the  products  of  the 
night-soil  which  might,  in  rare  cases,  tend  to 
contaminate  the  soil -water.  If  but  little  of  the 
night-soil  be  deposited  in  one  place,  the  earth 
and  plants — two  most  efficient  disinfectants— may 
be  trusted  to  preserve  good  sanitary  conditions. 
However,  pains  should  be  taken  to  discover  if, 
by  any  possible  means,  the  sewage  may  find 
its  way  into  the  well.  An  intelligent  inspection 
of  the  soil,  the  stratification  of  it  and  the  rocks, 
will  reveal  the  direction  which  the  soil -water 
takes ;  but  if  the  cesspool  and  the  drains  are 
placed  some  distance  from  the  dwelling,  no  con- 
tamination will  take  place  under  any  circum- 
stances, since  the  amount  of  sewage  is  so  small 
and  the  power  of  plants  and  soil  to  take  up  the 
dangerous  products  of  sewage  is  so  great. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

HOUSEHOLD   ADMINISTRATION,    ECONOMY,    AND 
COMFORT 

In  colonial  times,  before  so  many  of  the 
household  operations  were  transferred  to  shops 
and  manufactories,  women  were  producers  al- 
most as  much  as  men;  but  in  modern  times 
women  are  more  and  more  concerned  with  how 
money  shall  be  spent.  The  woman  is  still  a 
producer  when  she  cooks  an  egg,  mends  a  gar- 
ment, or  sweeps  a  room ;  but  the  question  of 
how  much  or  how  little  can  be  had  out  of  the 
family  income  has  become  relatively  more  and 
more  her  concern.  In  Europe,  far  more  than  in 
the  United  States,  attention  is  given  by  the 
women  to  the  economical  expenditure  of  the 
family  resources.  A  provincial  French  girl  is 
trained  from  her  childhood  for  household  duties. 
She  assists  her  mother  not  only  in  order  to 
learn  the  finer  arts  of  housewifery,  but  espe- 
cially the  judicious  expenditure  of  money.  The 
French  husband  leaves  the  apportionment  of  the 
family  income  almost  wholly  to  his  wife' s  dis- 
cretion. 

(224) 


Definite    Income  225 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  prosperity  of 
the  family  depends  quite  as  much  on  the  wise 
use  of  the  income  as  upon  the  size  of  that  in- 
come. The  first  essential  of  good  household 
management  is  that  the  housewife  should  know 
definitely  how  much  there  is  to  spend.  Nothing 
is  more  productive  of  marital  discontent  than 
the  habit  which  many  husbands  have  of  doling 
out  money  to  the  wife  at  irregular  times  and  in 
indefinite  amounts.  It  destroys  the  wife's  self- 
respect,  it  places  her  in  a  degraded  position 
before  her  children,  and  it  removes  all  incentive 
to  thrift.  It  not  infrequently  supplies  a  power- 
ful motive  for  deceit.  If  the  wife  is  inexpe- 
rienced, unwise,  or  extravagant  in  the  use  of 
money,  so  much  the  more  reason  why  the  hus- 
band should  patiently  and  firmly  teach  her  how 
to  spend,  both  for  her  own  sake  and  that  of  the 
family  welfare.  An  arrangement  by  which  the 
wife  controls  the  expenditure  of  a  certain  por- 
tion of  the  income  is  very  easy  whenever  the 
man  receives  a  salary  or  regular  daily  wages. 
A  regular  income  tends  to  develop  thrift  and  to 
teach  people  to  avoid  debt ;  but  there  is  always 
a  tendency  to  live  up  to  the  limit  of  it,  and  the 
margin  for  saving  and  for  extra  pleasures  is  al- 
ways small.  Salaried  people  seldom  get  deeply 
in  defet,  but  they  as  seldom  become  very  rich. 

On  the  other  hand,  whenever   the  family  in- 


226  The   Farmstead 

come  is  irregular,  as  from  farming  and  most 
other  kinds  of  business,  the  problem  of  house- 
hold financiering  is  much  more  difficult  and  re- 
quires both  greater  self-control  and  better  judg- 
ment. It  is  usually  possible  for  such  families 
to  determine  upon  a  definite  minimum  amount 
which  may  be  counted  upon  for  ordinary  living 
expenses.  The  margin  above  this  may  vary 
widely,  but  if  the  scale  of  living  be  habitually 
adjusted  to  come  within  the  minimum  income, 
there  will  be  no  terror  of  debt.  The  expendi- 
ture of  the  surplus,  when  it  comes,  becomes  a 
unique  and  unexpected  pleasure.  Whatever  the 
plan  adopted  for  distributing  the  family  income, 
the  wife  should  have  at  her  command  and 
should  be  expected  to  live  within,  a  definite 
share  of  the  income. 

After  the  minimum  expenses  of  the  family 
have  been  determined,  the  next  most  important 
question  is  how  and  when  they  shall  be  paid 
out.  Cash  payments  are  much  to  be  preferred. 
They  have  two  advantages  :  whoever  pays  cash 
asks  no  favor  of  the  tradesman,  and  commands 
the  best  quality  at  a  given  price.  The  trades- 
man who  lends  money  by  allowing  the  payment 
of  bills  to  be  postponed,  must  pay  for  his  goods 
and  must  have  interest  on  the  money  necessary 
to  carry  on  a  credit  business.  He  must  nec- 
essarily, therefore,  reimburse  himself   by  charg- 


Cash   vs.   Credit  227 

ing  a  higher  price,  or  by  giving  a  poorer  article. 
It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  credit  costs 
something.  The  cash  customer  is  always  con- 
sidered a  good  customer,  and  can  always  have 
the  first  choice  of  the  market,  and  favors  if  any 
are  desired.  Whenever  monthly  or  quarterly 
bills  are  run,  the  debtor  is  apt  to  acquire  a 
most  dangerous  habit  — the  habit  of  spending 
now,  to  pay  at  some  future  time.  The  more 
remote  the  time,  the  more  dangerous  the  habit. 
It  is  evident  that  the  oftener  bills  are  paid,  the 
less  likelihood  there  is  of  mistakes  and  deceit. 
If  bills  must  be  run,  it  should  never  be  for 
longer  than  a  month,  and  prompt  payment  of 
them  is  a  solemn  obligation.  The  article  should 
be  done  without  rather  than  the  seller  asked 
to  wait  for  his  money.  Whatever  plan  the 
housewife  adopts  will  be  conditioned  by  the 
customs  of  the  locality  in  which  she  lives  and 
by  the  habits  of  the  local  tradesman. 

Women  waste  much  time  and  energy  in  buy- 
ing things  one  by  one  ;  they  spend  in  this  way, 
too,  much  more  than  they  realize,  and  then  they 
wonder  where  the  money  has  gone.  China, 
linen,  and  the  stock  of  clothing  necessary  for 
changes  of  season,  should  be  bought  by  the  set, 
or  quantity,  marked  and  prepared  for  use  at 
regular  intervals.  Women  buy  a  collar  or  two, 
a  pair   of   stockings,  a   bit   of   ribbon,  a   bread 


228  The   Farmstead 

plate,  a  few  glasses,  etc.,  and  then  are  sur- 
prised that  they  seem  to  have  very  little  for  the 
money.  Unless  the  housewife  be  really  poor,  or 
unless  the  money  be  doled  out  to  her  irregu- 
larly, it  will  invariably  pay  to  buy  in  quantity 
things  which  are  not  perishable,  and  which  the 
household  wears  out  and,  therefore,  habitually 
needs.  Handkerchiefs,  stockings,  underclothing, 
china,  drinking  glasses,  cost  less  by  the  dozen 
and  half-dozen  than  by  the  piece.  Lamp  chim- 
neys are  continually  broken,  toilet  paper  and 
soap  used  up,  yet  very  few  housekeepers  realize 
that  they  waste  both  time  and  energy,  beside 
suffering  inconvenience,  when  they  buy  these 
one  at  a  time.  Buying  piecemeal  is  demoraliz- 
ing, as  well  as  wasteful,  because  it  is  unsyste- 
matic. Successful  housekeeping  involves  atten- 
tion to  numberless  details ;  if  by  periodic  instead 
of  incessant  attention  some  of  these  can  be 
disposed  of  in  the  mass,  there  will  be  immense 
saving  of  energy. 

Many  housekeepers  will  object  to  this,  either 
because  it  involves  the  immediate  expenditure 
of  a  larger  sum  of  money  for  one  class  of  arti- 
cles, or  because,  not  having  more  wholesome 
social  and  intellectual  interests,  they  find  recrea- 
tion in  wandering  from  store  to  store,  or  counter 
to  counter,  pricing  much  and  buying  little  ;  or 
because  they  love  to  find  "a  bargain."     The  in- 


The   Bargain    Counter  229 

stinct  to  get  something  "cheap,"  that  is,  to  get 
something  for  nothing,  or,  more  properly,  to  get 
more  than  we  pay  for,  lies  very  deep  in  human 
nature.  Because  women  have  usually  lived  from 
hand  to  mouth,  without  foresight,  it  has  perhaps 
been  exaggerated  in  them.  There  are  the 
bargain -hunters,  and  there  are  the  bargain- 
scorners ;  both  are  doubtless  equally  illogical. 
When  an  article  is  phenomenally  cheap,  it  is  so, 
usually,  either  because  too  many  of  its  kind  are 
on  the  market,  or  because  the  seller  is  sacri- 
ficing a  normal  profit  to  draw  general  custom, 
or  because  the  people  who  have  produced  it 
have  done  so  at  less  than  a  decent  living  wage, 
or  because  it  is  going  or  gone  out  of  fashion. 
Good  buyers  are  rightfully  suspicious  of  bar- 
gains. No  one  should  be  willing  to  buy  or  use 
articles  which  have  been  produced  at  starvation 
wages  under  wretched  sanitary  conditions.  It 
is  never  good  economy  to  buy  things  which  are 
gone  out  of  fashion  unless  one  is  quite  satisfied 
to  he  out  of  fashion.  If  the  article  offered  on 
the  bargain  counter  be  of  good  quality,  and  in 
staple  use  in  the  household,  it  is  often  well 
worth  buying.  Flannels,  linens,  sometimes 
woolen  dress  goods  of  inconspicuous  patterns, 
may  be  bought  at  the  end  of  the  season  much 
cheaper  than  at  the  beginning,  and  are  a  good 
investment  if   one   has   money  to    spare    and   is 


230  The   Farmstead 

sure  what  is  going  to  be  needed  by  the  family. 
Over  against  the  money  saved  in  securing  a  bar- 
gain, must  always  be  reckoned  the  time  and 
energy  used  in  finding  it,  and  the  risks  that  its 
quality  may  prove  inferior,  or  that  it  may  be 
unsuitable  when  finally  used.  If  a  woman  has 
nothing  better  to  do  with  her  time  and  strength 
than  to  hunt  bargains,  there  is  nothing  further 
to  be  said;  but  if  she  has,  it  is  usually  more 
economical  and  more  satisfactory  to  buy  the 
articles  needed  for  definite  use  at  a  reliable 
place  and  at  a  fair  price. 

All  the  suggestions  that  have  been  made 
imply  accurate  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the 
housekeeper.  A  thoroughly  trained  housekeeper 
of  long  experience  may  possibly  keep  all  the 
household  detail  in  hand  without  keeping  books 
of  account,  but  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for 
the  inexperienced  or  unsystematic  housekeeper 
to  do  so.  The  mental  training  involved  in  keep- 
ing an  accurate  account  of  family  income  and 
expenditure  is  as  valuable  as  a  course  in  mathe- 
matics. For  her  own  self- discipline,  as  well  as 
for  the  better  distribution  of  the  family  income, 
every  housekeeper  should  keep  an  itemized  ac- 
count. Until  she  can  balance  her  account  accu- 
rately at  the  end  of  every  month  she  has  not 
learned  the  a  b  c  of  thorough  housekeeping. 
After  having  learned  to  do  this  easily,  she  may, 


Household   Book-keeping  231 

perhaps,  allow  herself  a  very  small  margin  for 
those  "sundries"  which  have  not  been  put  down, 
and  which  would  waste  valuable  time  to  hunt 
out.  Every  housewife  knows  by  experience  that 
it  is  not  the  regular  meat  and  grocery  bills  that 
eat  up  the  income;  if  adequate  care  is  taken  of 
them,  they  can  be  reduced  to  a  definite  scale 
and  kept  there;  but  it  is  the  incidentals.  A  sys- 
tem of  accurate  accounts  will  speedily  show  how 
many  of  these  are  extravagant  or  unnecessary. 
Book-keeping'  is  a  bugbear  to  most  women, 
chiefly  because  the  system  which  they  undertake 
is  too  complicated.  The  simplest  form  is  the 
best.  Any  blank  book  may  be  used  ;  put  down 
on  the  right  hand  side  everything  bought;  on 
the  left  side  all  money  received  ;  at  the  end  of 
the  week  or  month  the  total  sum  of  the  right- 
hand  column  plus  the  money  still  on  hand 
should  equal  the  total  of  the  left-hand  column. 
If  it  does  not,  some  item  has  been  omitted  or 
not  accurately  entered.  It  is  better  in  the  be- 
ginning to  balance  the  account  at  least  once  a 
week,  for  then  inaccuracies  can  be  more  easily 
traced.  The  secret  of  success  is  to  put  down  at 
the  time  of  the  transaction  what  has  been  re- 
ceived and  spent.  When  the  account  has  been 
balanced,  a  second  step  is  much  more  inter- 
esting. In  another  book  or  in  the  back  of  the 
day-  book,  if    it  be   large  enough,   open  several 


232  The   Farmstead 

accounts  on  separate  pages,  as  follows :  gro- 
ceries, meats,  fuel,  clothing,  subscriptions  and 
charities,  incidentals,  etc.  Copy  each  item  from 
the  day-book  into  its  proper  account  ;  at  the 
end  of  a  month  or  year,  by  adding  up  these  sep- 
arate accounts,  the  housewife  can  tell  exactly 
what  proportion  of  the  income  has  been  spent 
for  each  class.  Mr.  Lawes,  the  famous  English 
agriculturist,  when  traveling  in  America,  was 
able  to  quote  accurately  the  cost  of  the  various 
items  of  expenditure  in  his  own  house. 

Economy  is  a  relative,  not  an  absolute  thing. 
Economy  of  money  is  often  wastefulness  of 
life,  yet  extravagance,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a 
serious  cause  of  human  degeneration.  With  the 
exception  of  poor  management,  poor  service  is 
probably  the  most  wasteful  factor  of  all  in  the 
household,  yet  there  are  conditions  in  which 
poor  service  is  certainly  less  wasteful  of  the 
family  resources,  than  none  at  all.  The  end  of 
housekeeping  is  the  health,  comfort,  and 
serenity  of  the  family.  The  two  main  factors 
in  producing  this  result  are  the  family  income 
and  the  mother's  strength  and  energy.  Saving, 
however  desirable,  is  merely  an  incidental  end. 
The  mother's  intelligence,  therefore,  if  she  be 
in  command  of  her  fair  share  of  the  income, 
must  be  used  to  save  not  only  money  but  her 
own  resources.     The  lack  of  nutritious,  palatable 


Economy   and   Health  233 

food  and  of  nursing  in  illness,  the  lack  of  service 
when  the  mother  is  weakened  by  labor  and 
child-bearing,  is  sometimes  economy  with  most 
disastrous  results.  Health  and  serenity  are  worth 
more  to  the  family  than  houses  and  a  bank  ac- 
count. A  good  education  given  to  an  intelli- 
gent child  is  worth  ten  times  its  cost  saved  up 
for  him  to  inherit  in  middle  life. 

Every  device,  therefore,  which  saves  the  house- 
wife's energy  is  a  true  economy.  A  clothes- 
washing  machine,  a  cabinet  table,  a  slop -hopper 
for  kitchen  and  chamber  waste -liquids,  are  all 
obtainable  and  of  special  value  in  saving  labor. 
In  planning  the  kitchen,  economy  of  steps  in 
reaching  water  and  fuel  should  be  considered. 
China  should  be  kept  either  in  wall  cupboards 
opening  on  one  side  into  the  dining-room,  on 
the  other  into  the  kitchen,  or  in  a  pantry  be- 
tween dining-room  and  kitchen.  Kitchen  uten- 
sils need  no  longer  be  of  black,  heavy,  ugly 
iron,  but  of  granite  ware,  nickel  plate,  and 
aluminum;  they  may  be  placed  in  shelves  close 
to  the  range,  or  hung  along  the  wall  beside  it. 
A  dumb  waiter  or  hand  elevator,  from  kitchen  to 
cellar,  saves  much  going  up  and  down  stairs. 
The  height  of  sinks  and  work-tables  should  be 
adapted  to  that  of  the  woman  who  works  over 
them.  A  tall  stool  — a  clerk's  stool  — in  the 
kitchen  allows   the  housewife  to  sit  while  doing 


234  The   Farmstead 

some  kinds  of  work.  Distances  between  sink, 
range,  dishes,  and  store-room,  should  be  as 
short  as  possible,  while  the  ventilation  and  light- 
ing of  the  kitchen  should  be  particularly  good. 
Every  step  up  and  down  from  kitchen  to  shed, 
or  kitchen  to  cellar,  is  an  extra  drain  on  the 
overtaxed  woman.  Small,  cheap  contrivances, 
such  as  dish -mops,  iron  dish-cloths,  pan- 
scrapers,  small  scrubbing-brushes,  wire  screen 
garbage -pans,  and  many  others,  lighten  the  work 
and  make  it  possible  for  the  housewife  to  be 
more  dainty  in  her  personal  appearance. 

In  no  respect  does  farm  life  differ  more  from 
city  life  than  in  the  kind  of  food  provided  and 
the  method  of  serving  it.  The  farmer's  table  is 
loaded  down  with  a  great  abundance  and  variety 
of  food,  all  placed  on  the  table  at  once,  and 
often  rich  and  indigestible.  The  city  table  has 
half  as  much,  both  in  variety  and  quantity, 
served  daintily  in  courses.  The  city  housewife 
provides  variety  from  meal  to  meal,  seldom  re- 
peating any  dish,  except  the  staple  ones,  more 
than  once  or  twice  a  week  ;  the  rural  housewife 
puts  a  large  variety  of  the  same  things  on  the 
table  at  every  meal.  Abundance  of  well  cooked, 
appetizing  food ,  there  should  be,  but  variety 
from  meal  to  meal,  and  from  day  to  day,  is  far 
preferable  to  excessive  variety  at  any  one  meal. 
Not  only  is  it  better  for  the  digestion  to  eat  of 


The   Farmer's    Table  235 

a  very  few  kinds  of  food  at  one  meal ;  but,  since 
novelty  stimulates  appetite,  any  particular  dish 
will  be  more  appetizing  if  not  served  too  fre- 
quently. The  farmer's  family,  while  very  eco- 
nomical in  the  expenditure  of  money,  is  often 
very  wasteful  of  food.  Vegetables,  fruit, 
chickens,  pork  raised  on  the  farm,  seem  to  cost 
no  money,  but  they  cost  much  vital  energy,  which 
is  quite  as  valuable.  The  value  of  milk,  butter, 
and  eggs  is  recognized,  because  it  is  customary 
to  sell  them  in  town;  but  the  cost  in  the  labor 
of  those  who  raise  and  those  who  prepare  food, 
is  often  overlooked.  The  farmer's  table  is  thus 
not  only  overloaded,  but  really  extravagant. 
Here,  again,  quality  is  more  desirable  than  va- 
riety;  simplicity  should  accompany  abundance. 

Since  rural  life  -involves  a  certain  degree  of 
isolation,  the  family  must  keep  in  touch  with 
the  world  chiefly  through  literature.  Even  at 
the  sacrifice  of  some  of  the  rich  variety  of  food 
on  the  table  or  of  new  clothes,  books  and  papers 
should  be  provided.  The  local  newspaper  is  apt 
to  contain  little  beside  local  gossip;  it  should  be 
supplemented  with  an  agricultural  paper  and  a 
family  journal,  a  housekeeping  magazine,  a  chil- 
dren's magazine,  if  there  be  children,  and  other 
general  magazines  if  they  can  be  afforded.  But 
better  than  the  general  magazines,  would  be  the 
gradual  purchase  of   the   standard  works  of  his- 


236  The   Farmstead 

tory,  travel,  poetry,  and  fiction.  A  musical  in- 
strument, a  small  library,  and  interesting  games 
will  do  more  than  admonition  to  keep  young 
people  at  home.  Children  naturally  want  a  good 
time  ;  if  it  is  not  provided  for  them  at  home 
they  will  go  to  other  and  perhaps  less  desirable 
places  to  get  it. 

With  the  increase  of  appliances,  and  with  the 
added  social  and  intellectual  demands,  country 
as  well  as  city  life  is  becoming  more  compli- 
cated and  exacting.  The  housewife,  whose  physi- 
cal strength  is  scarcely  equal  to  the  demands  of 
housekeeping  and  child-bearing,  must  develop 
her  intelligence  and  whet  her  judgment.  She 
must  find  easier  and  wiser  ways  of  doing  the 
necessary  drudgery,  and  make  brains  do  an  in- 
creasing part  of  the  labor  formerly  accomplished 
by  muscle. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE   HOME    YARD 

The  yard,  as  well  as  the  house,  should  be 
planned.  It  should  be  convenient,  neat,  hand- 
some, restful.  It  will  need  planting;  with  trees, 
shrubs,  herbs  and  grass ;  but  these  things 
should  not  be  scattered  promiscuously  over  the 
place,  for  then  they  mean  nothing.  Every  plant 
should  have  some  relation  to  the  general  plan 
or  design  of  the  place. 

The  first  thing  to  consider  in  the  making  of 
a  fit  setting  for  the  house  is  to  lay  out  the  plan 
or  design ;  the  last  thing  is  to  select  the  particu- 
lar kinds  of  plants  to  be  used.  The  place 
should  be  a  picture.  It  should  be  one  thing, 
not  many  things.  If  the  design  is  correct  and 
the  planting  is  well  done,  all  parts  will  be  in 
harmony  and  the  place  will  appeal  to  one  as  a 
whole.  If  the  bushes  and  trees  are  scattered 
promiscuously  over  the  yard,  then  there  is  no 
central  idea  and  the  attention  is  fixed  upon  the 
details  rather  than  upon  the  place.  Figs.  88 
and  89  illustrate  these  contrasts. 

The    one    central    thought    or    idea    in    home 

(237) 


238  The   Farmstead 

grounds     is    the    house.      Therefore,    make    the 
house  emphatic.     Let  it  stand  out  boldly, 'as  in 


Fig.  88.    The  common  or  nursery  type  of  planting. 


Fig.  89.     The  proper  or  pictorial  type  of  planting. 

Fig.  89.  Keep  the  center  of  the  place  open. 
Do  not  clutter  it  with  trees,  flower  beds  and 
other  distracting  things. 


Walks  and   Drives 


239 


Fig.  90. 

A      modest 

and     direct 

driveway. 


If  the  house  is  to  be  made  emphatic,  give  it 
a  flanking.  Plant  trees  or  bushes,  or  both,  on 
the  sides.  Back  it  up,  also,  with  trees.  If  it 
sets  in  front  of  a 
natural  wood  or  an 
orchard,  the  effect 
is  better.  If  the 
country  is  bare  and  bald  be- 
hind it,  plant  tall  trees  there. 

Make  as  few  walks  and 
drives  as  possible.  They  are 
always  unsightly  and  expensive. 
Let  them  lead  to  their  destination 
by  the  most  direct  curves.  Do  not 
make  them  crooked ;  for  crooked 
walks  and  drives  are  expensive.  Gentle  curves 
are  more  retired  and  modest  than  awkward 
and  laborious  ones.  Fig.  90  shows  a  good,  easy 
curve.  If  possible,  place  the  walk  or  drive  at 
the  side,  rather  than  in  the  center:  avoid  cutting 
up  the  lawn. 

Most  of  the  planting  should  be  in  masses. 
Plants  present  a  bolder  front  when  standing 
together.  A  group  is  one  thing ;  scattered 
shrubs  are  many  things,  and  they  divert  and 
distract  the  attention.  By  massing,  one  secures 
endless  combinations  of  light  and  shade,  of 
color,  and  of  form.  Against  the  mass -planting, 
flowers  show  off  best ;  they  have  a  background, 


240 


The   Farmstead 


as  a  picture  has  when  it  hangs  on  a  wall.  One 
canna  or  geranium  standing  just  in  front  of 
heavy  foliage  makes  more  show  than  do  a  dozen 
plants  when  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  lawn ; 
it  is  more  easily  cared  for,  and  it  does  not 
spoil  the  lawn.     A  flower  bed  in  the   middle  of 


Fig.  91.    A  good  house ;   but  the  home  is  only  half  built. 

the  sward  spoils  a  lawn,  as  a  spot  soils  the 
table-cloth.  Flowers  at  the  side,  or  joined  to 
the  other  planting,  are  a  part  of  the  picture ; 
in  the  middle  of  the  lawn  they  are  only  a  spot 
of  color  and  mean  nothing  except  that  the 
grower  did  not  know  where  to  put  them. 

Take  these  suggestions  to  heart.  Consider 
which  you  like  the  better,  Fig.  91  or  92.  Con- 
sider, also,  how  Fig.  92  would  look  if  plants  were 
scattered  all  over  the  yard. 

Plants  are   difficult  to   grow  in   little  holes  in 


241 


the  sod.  The  grass  takes  the  moisture.  They 
are  always  in  the  way.  The  yard  in  Fig.  92  can 
be  mown  with  a  field  mower.  The  bushes  take 
care  of  themselves.  If  one  dies,  it  matters 
little:  others  fill  the  gaps.  If  pigweeds  come  up 
amongst  them,  little   or  no  harm  is  done.     They 


Fig.  92.    A  house  and  a  home. 

add  to  the  variety  of  foliage  effect.  One  does 
nol^  feel  that  he  must  stop  his  cultivating  or 
sheep -shearing  to  dig  them  out.  In  the  fall, 
the  leaves  blow  off  the  open  lawn  and  are  held 
in  the  bushes  ;  there  they  make  an  ideal  mulch, 
and  they  need  not  be  removed  in  the  spring.    In 


242 


The   Farmstead 


front  of  this  shrubbery  a  space  two  or  three  feet 
wide  may  be  left  for  flowers.  Here  sow  and 
plant  with  a  free  hand.  Have  sufficient  poppies 
and  hollyhocks  and  pinks  and  lilies  and  petunias 
to  supply  every  member  of  the  family  and  every 
neighbor.  Against  the  background  they  glow 
like  coals   or  lie  as  soft  as  the  snow. 

Fill  in  the  corners  of  the  place.  Round  off 
the  angularities.  Throw  a  mass  of  herbage  into 
the  corner  by  the  steps  (Fig.  93) : 
then  you  will  not  need  to  saw  off 
the  grass  with  a  butcher  knife. 
Plant  a  vine  and  some  low  plants 
along  the  foundations. 

When  these  main  or  funda-    |L 
mental    things    are 
considered,     then    JM    £* 
some    of   the  inci-     *  ■>*-'* 
dental    things  may 
be  considered.     If 
you     are    fond     of 
some  particular 
plant,    as  the    hy- 
drangea, plant  it  in 
some    prominent 
place    in    front   of 
the    shrub    border. 
You    may    want    a 
tree    to     shade     a 


Fig. 


The  corner  by  the  steps. 


To   Make   the   Lawn  243 

window  or  a  porch  :  plant  it.  You  may  want 
a  pile  of  odd  stones  and  relics:  put  them  in  the 
back  yard,  or  at  the  side,  where  you  may  enjoy 
them  unmolested.  You  may  have  any  kind  of 
plant  you  want,  only  put  it  in  the  right  place. 

Have  an  eye  to  the  views.  Build  your  house 
with  reference  to  them,  if  you  can.  Do  not 
plant  so  as  to  hide  the  good  ones.  Plant  heavily 
in  the  direction  of  offensive  views.  Plant  so  as 
to  obscure  the  barnyard ;  or  else  move  the  barn- 
yard back  of  the  barn,  or  clean  it  up.  Leave 
the  front  of  the  barn  open:  you  want  to  see  it 
from  the  house. 

HOW    TO     DO    THE  WORK 

The  lawn,  then,  is  the  first  consideration.  It 
is  the  canvas  on  which  we  are  to  paint  a  picture 
of  home  and  comfort.  In  many  cases  the  yard 
is  already  level  or  well  graded  and  has  a  good 
sod,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  plow  and  re-seed. 
It  should  be  said  that  the  sod  on  old  lawns 
can  be  renewed  without  plowing  it  up.  In  the 
bare  or  thin  places,  scratch  up  the  ground  with 
an  iron -toothed  rake,  apply  a  little  fertilizer,  and 
sow  more  seed.  Weedy  lawns  are  those  in  which 
the  sod  is  poor.  It  may  be  necessary  to  pull 
out  the  weeds;  but  after  they  are  out  the  land 
should  be  quickly  covered  with  sod  or  they  will 


244  The   Farmstead 

come  in  again.  Annual  weeds,  as  pigweeds  and 
ragweed,  can  usually  be  crowded  out  by  merely 
securing  a  heavier  sod.  A  little  clover  seed  will 
often  be  a  good  addition,  for  it  supplies  nitro- 
gen and  has  an  excellent  mechanical  effect  on 
the    soil. 

The  ideal  time  to  prepare  the  land  is  in  the 
fall,  before  the  heavy  rains  come.  Then  sow  in 
the  fall,  and  again  in  early  spring  on  a  late 
snow.  However,  the  work  may  be  done  in  the 
spring,  but  the  danger  is  that  it  will  be  put  off 
so  long  that  the  young  grass  will  not  become 
established  before  the  dry,  hot  weather  comes. 

The  best  lawn  grass  for  New  York  is  June- 
grass,  or  blue-grass.  Seedsmen  know  it  as  Poa 
pratensis.  It  weighs  but  14  pounds  to  the 
bushel.  Not  less  than  three  bushels  should  be 
sown  to  the  acre.  We  want  many  very  small 
stems  of  grass,  not  a  few  large  ones;  for  we 
are  making    a    lawn,  not   a   meadow. 

Do  not  sow  grain  with  the  grass  seed.  The 
June -grass  grows  slowly  at  first,  however,  and 
therefore  it  is  a  good  plan  to  sow  timothy  with 
it,  at  the  rate  of  two  or  three  quarts  to  the 
acre.  The  timothy  comes  up  quickly  and  makes 
a  green;  and  the  June -grass  will  crowd  it  out  in 
a  year  or  two.  If  the  land  is  hard  and  inclined 
to  be  too  dry,  some  kind  of  clover  will  greatly 
assist  the  June -grass.     Red  clover  is  too  large 


Moiving  245 

and  coarse  for  the  lawn.  Crimson  clover  is 
excellent,  for  it  is  an  annual,  and  it  does  not 
become  unsightly  in  the  lawn.  White  clover  is 
perhaps  best,  since  it  not  only  helps  the  grass 
but  looks  well  in  the  sod.  One  or  two  pounds 
of  seed, is  generally  sufficient  for  an  acre. 

At  first  the  weeds  will  come  up.  Do  not  pull 
them.  Mow  the  lawn  as  soon  as  there  is  any 
growth  large  enough  to  mow.  Of  course,  the 
lawn-mower  is  best,  but  one  can  have  a  good 
place  without  it.  Perhaps  a  hand  lawn-mower 
(one  with  large  wheels  and  not  less  than  16 -inch 
cut)  can  be  used  to  keep  the  sward  close  just 
about  the  house  ;  then  the  field-mower  may  be 
used  now  and  then  for  the  remainder.  Here  is 
another  advantage,  as  I  have  said,  of  the  open- 
centered  yard  which  I  have  recommended  ;  it  is 
easily  mown.  It  would  be  a  fussy  matter  to 
mow  a  yard  planted  after  the  fashion  of  Fig.  88 ; 
but  one  like  Fig.  89  is  easily  managed. 

The  borders  should  be  planted  thickly.  Plow 
up  the  strip.  Never  plant  these  trees  and 
bushes  in  holes  cut  in  the  sod.  Scatter  the 
bushes  and  trees  promiscuously  in  the  narrow 
border.  In  home  grounds,  it  is  easy  to  run 
through  these  borders  occasionally  with  a  culti- 
vator, for  the  first  year  or  two.  Make  the  edges 
of  the  border  irregular.  Plant  the  lowest  bushes 
on  the  inner  edge  toward  the  house. 


246  The   Farmstead 

For  all  such  things  as  lilacs,  mock  oranges, 
Japan  quinces,  and  bushes  that  are  found  along 
the  roadsides,  two  or  three  feet  apart  is  about 
right.  Some  will  die  anyway.  Cut  them  back 
one -half  when  they  are  planted.  They  will 
look  thin  and  stiff  for  two  or  three  years  ;  but 
after  that  they  will  crowd  the  spaces  full,  lop 
over  on  the  sod,  and  make  a  billow  of  green. 
Prepare  the  land  well,  plant  carefully,  and  let 
the  bushes  alone. 

We  now  come  to  the  details, — the  particular 
kinds  of  plants  to  use.  One  great  principle  will 
simplify  the  matter  :  the  main  planting  should 
be  for  foliage  effects.  That  is,  think  first  of 
giving  the  place  a  heavy  border- mass.  Flowers 
are  mere  decorations. 

Select  those  trees  and  shrubs  which  are  the 
commonest,  because  they  are  cheapest,  hardiest 
and  most  likely  to  grow.  There  is  no  farm 
so  poor  that  enough  plants  cannot  be  secured, 
without  money,  for  the  home  yard.  You  will 
find  the  plants  in  the  woods,  in  old  yards,  along 
the  fences.  It  is  little  matter  if  no  one  knows 
their  names.  What  is  handsomer  than  a  tangled 
fence -row? 

Scatter  in  a  few  trees  along  the  fence  and 
about  the  buildings,  particularly  if  the  place  is 
large  and  bare.  Maples,  bass  wood,  elms,  ashes, 
buttonwood,  pepperidge,  oaks,   beeches,  birches, 


Bowers  247 

hickories,  poplars,  a  few  trees  of  pine  or  spruce 
or  hemlock, —  any  of  these  are  excellent.  If  the 
country  is  bleak,  a  rather  heavy  planting  of 
evergreens  about  the  border,  in  the  place  of  so 
much  shrubbery,  is  excellent. 

For  shrubs,  use  the  common  things  to  be 
found  in  the  woods  and  swales,  together  with 
roots,  which  can  be  had  in  every  old  yard. 
Willows,  osiers,  witch-hazel,  dogwood,  wild 
roses,  thorn  apples,  haws,  elders,  sumac,  wild 
honeysuckles,— these  and  others  can  be  found 
in  abundance.  From  old  yards  can  be  secured 
snowballs,  spireas,  lilacs,  forsythias,  mock 
oranges,  roses,  snowberries,  barberries,  flower- 
ing currants,  honeysuckles,  and  the  like. 

Vines  can  be  used  to  excellent  purpose  on 
the  outbuildings  or  on  the  porches.  The  com- 
mon wild  Virginia  creeper  is  the  most  service- 
able. On  brick  or  stone  houses  the  Boston  ivy 
or  Japanese  ampelopsis  may  be  used,  unless  the 
location  is  very  bleak.  This  is  not  hardy  in 
the  northern  parts  of  the  country.  Honey- 
suckles, clematis  and  bitter-sweet  are  also  at- 
tractive. Bowers  are  always  interesting  to  chil- 
dren ;  and  actinidia  and  akebia  (to  be  had  at 
nurseries)   are  best  for  this  purpose. 

If  a  regular  flower  garden  is  wanted,  place 
at  the  side  or  rear  of  the  place,  where  a  liberal 
piece  of  land  can  be  devoted  to  it. 


248  The   Farmstead 

Into  these  native  shrub  borders,  throw  some 
color  from  nursery -grown  bushes  if  you  choose. 
Mix  in  spireas,  weigelas,  roses  —  anything  you 
like.  A  rare  or  strange  plant  may  be  intro- 
duced now  and  then,  if  there  is  any  money  with 
which  to  buy  such  things.  Plant  it  at  some 
conspicuous  point  just  in  front  of  the  border, 
where  it  will  show  off  well,  be  out  of  the  way, 
and  have  some  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  plant- 
ing. Two  or  three  purple -leaved  or  variegated- 
leaved  bushes  will  add  much  spirit  and  verve  to 
the  place ;  but  too  many  of  them  make  the 
place  look  fussy  and  overdone.  You  can  have 
a  botanic  garden  of  your  own,  even  though  you 
do  not  know  the  name  of  a  single  plant ;  and 
your  home  will  be  a  picture  at  the  same  time. 


CHAPTER    XV 

A    DISCUSSION   OF    BARNS 

Modern  agriculture  requires  large  and  com- 
modious barns  and  other  structures  to  house  the 
crops,  the  animals,  tools,  and  implements. 
Especially  is  this  true  when  mixed  farming  is 
conducted  in  an  intensified  and  economical  way. 
In  early  days  one  or,  at  most,  two  low  barns 
of  30  by  40  feet  were  supposed  to  supply  all 
shelter  accommodations  required  for  a  farm  of 
one  hundred  acres.  At  the  present  time,  on  the 
same  farms,  may  often  be  seen  a  barn  60  by  80 
feet  and  double  the  height  of  the  old  struc- 
tures, with  a  wing  one -half  of  the  capacity  of 
the  main  barn  to  which  it  is  attached,  this 
single  structure  providing  more  than  six  times 
the  cubic  space  of  two  of  the  old  barns.  One 
sizable  farm  in  Tompkins  county,  New  York, 
had,  for  many  years,  a  single  barn  30  by  40 
feet  with  14 -foot  posts.  It  now  has  a  barn 
which  provides  more  than  fifteen  times  the  room 
of  the  old  one,  and  yet  it  is  scarcely  large 
enough  to  house  the  animals  and  crops  of  this 
modest  farm. 

(249) 


250  The   Farmstead 

Naturally,  the  questions  arise,  are  these  large 
structures  necessary,  and  what  changes  in  agri- 
culture have  take  a  place  to  create  a  need  for 
such  mammoth  structures?  They  are  neces- 
sarily expensive,  and  too  often  dwarf  and  be- 
little the  house  when  placed  near  it. 

Modern  advanced  farmers  secure  nearly  or 
quite  double  the  average  yield  of  crops  of  their 
grandfathers.  This  is  an  indisputable  fact,  not- 
withstanding the  hue  and  cry  about  the  deca- 
dence of  the  rural  population.  The  facts  are 
that  some  are  farming  much  better  than  the 
older  generations  and  some  much  worse.  Much 
of  the  good  land  is  producing  more  bountifully 
than  ever  before,  and  some  of  the  poorer  lands 
have  been  so  badly  managed,  and  have  become 
so  depleted  in  their  productive  power  as  to  be 
nearly  worthless,  and  should  be  thrown  out  of 
cultivation  and  left  to  recuperate  until  unborn 
generations  require  them.  More  live  stock  is 
kept  now  than  formerly.  The  number  of  milch 
cows,  horses,  and  mules  in  the  United  States  in- 
creased more  than  50  per  cent  between  1870  and 
1890,  and  other  cattle  increased  during  the 
same  period  150  per  cent.  Notwithstanding  this 
fact,  the  live  stock  on  many  farms  has  been 
greatly  diminished. 

Then,  too,  progressive  farmers  believe  it  to 
be   economy  to  provide   shelter  for  animals   and 


Commodious   Bams  251 

crops,  manures  and  implements.  The  old  cus- 
tom of  stacking  the  hay  and  grain,  of  allowing 
the  farm  animals  to  toughen  in  the  winter's 
blast  in  field  and  barnyard,  and  the  manures  to 
leach  and  bleach  under  the  eaves  of  the  build- 
ing has,  in  part,  been  abandoned  and  better 
methods  substituted.  These  new  methods  re- 
quire better,  larger,  and  more  commodious  farm 
barns.  The  modern  and  humane  thought  is,  to 
make  all  of  the  animals  as  comfortable,  accord- 
ing to  their  needs  and  conditions,  as  is  their 
owner  in  his  well  appointed  house,  and  to  pro- 
tect everything  that  is  worth  protecting  from  the 
storms. 

There  are  two  fairly  distinct  methods  of  con- 
structing farm  buildings:  the  concentrated  and 
the  distributive.  The  one  aims  to  provide  the 
room  needed  by  one  or  two  large  structures ; 
the  other  by  means  of  many  detached  small 
buildings,  each,  where  practicable,  devoted  to  a 
special  purpose.  The  last  method  was  the  out- 
growth of  the  conditions  which  usually  prevailed 
in"^a  new  country.  First  came  the  rude  house 
and  the  log  stable.  The  stable  was  followed  by 
the  modest  barn,  usually  of  the  regulation  size, 
30  by  40  feet,  with  12-,  14-,  or,  in  rare  cases, 
16 -foot  posts.  As  the  arable  land  increased 
another  barn  was  built,  then  a  shed,  then  a 
wagon -house;  followed  by  a  corn -crib,  a  chicken- 


252  The   Farmstead 

house,  a  pig- pen,  and  later  a  sheep -barn,  cow- 
barn,  a  hay -barn,  all  the  room  in  the  first  and 
second  barns  being  by  this  time  required  for 
grain.  Outside  the  grain  districts  the  buildings 
were  modified  to  suit  conditions,  but  the  prac- 
tice of  constructing  many  small  structures  was 
not  changed. 

The  buildings  were  erected  without  any  com- 
prehensive plan  as  to  the  farmstead  as  a  whole. 
This  necessitated  many  fences,  gates,  yards,  and 
a  maze  of  muddy  byways  in  which  the  dock 
and  other  weeds,  discarded  implements,  and  the 
flotsam  and  jetsam  of  the  farm  found  oppor- 
tunity to  grow  or  to  rot.  Do  what  one  might, 
the  farmstead  could  never  be  made  to  look  neat 
and  tidy.  Not  infrequently,  twelve  to  fifteen 
separate  structures  may  be  seen  on  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres.  The  farmers  who  own  these  struc- 
tures are  not  to  be  criticised  too  severely.  They 
inherited  the  method  of  building  and  often  the 
buildings,  and  no  one,  so  far,  has  deigned  to 
give  them  help  by  treating  such  plebeian  sub- 
jects as  the  improvement  of  unsightly  stys, 
stables,  sheds,  and  barns. 

If  the  concentrated  method  be  adopted,  in 
case  of  fire  all  is  swept  away  ;  if  the  distribu- 
tive, some  of  the  buildings  may  be  saved. 
There  are  so  many  things  to  be  gained,  how- 
ever, by  adopting  the   concentrated  method  that 


Concentrate   the  Work  253 

construction  would  better  be  along  this  line  and 
then  trust  to  the  insurance  company  to  make 
good  the  losses  by  fire,  should  any  occur.  Com- 
pare Figs.  114,  119. 

Farm  laborers  receive  fully  double  the  wages, 
except  in  harvest  time,  which  they  did  fifty 
years  ago  ;  therefore,  the  barns  should  be  planned 
with  the  view  of  economizing  labor.  This  can 
best  be  secured  by  rearing  a  single  structure, 
rather  than  several,  for  it  is  evident  that  if  the 
live  stock,  tools,  implements  and  provender  be 
placed  in  juxtaposition,  economy  in  performing 
the  work  about  the  buildings  will  be  secured. 
However,  it  is  often  convenient  to  have  a  sepa- 
rate building  open  on  one  side  for  storing  farm 
wagons  and  heavy  implements  and  tools. 

Grain,  hay  and  stover  are  all  unloaded  most 
economically  by  means  of  slings  and  hay  fork, 
operated  by  horse -power,  but  the  unloading  by 
horse -power  implies  high  barns,  with  mows 
measurably  unobstructed  by  timbers.  Economy 
of  space  also  implies  deep  mows,  since  a  mow 
twenty  feet  deep  holds  more  than  two  mows  ten 
feet  deep.  High,  large  buildings  require  far 
less  outside  boarding  and  roof  than  small,  low, 
detached  buildings  which  contain,  together,  the 
same  storage  capacity.  Economy  in  construc- 
tion and  maintenance,  convenience  of  tempo- 
rarily sheltering  and  removing  manures,  ease  of 


254  The   Farmstead 

carrying  on  work  in  the  building,  and  beauty, 
all  indicate  the  wisdom  of  adopting  the  concen- 
trated method  in  the  construction  of  farm 
barns. 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  economize  in  barn 
construction  by  adopting  the  octagon  form.  This 
form  secures  a  greater  enclosed  area  for  a  given 
surface  covering  than  the  square  or  rectangular 
form.  But  all  of  the  angles  in  the  frame  are 
more  expensive  to  make  than  are  right  angles. 
It  requires  more  labor  and  time  to  saw  off  a  tim- 
ber at  an  angle  of  35  degrees  than  at  right 
angles.  True,  this  form  lends  itself  to  a  roof 
structure  free  from  obstructing  timbers,  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  does  not  give  opportunity  for 
the  placing  of  convenient  tracks  for  elevating 
the  provender.  So  far  the  pros  and  cons  may 
be  said  to  balance.  It  is  only  when  the  attempt 
is  made  to  divide  the  octagon  structure  into 
stables  and  rooms,  compartments  and  mows, 
that  its  inconvenient  shape  is  fully  realized. 
Everything  is  out  of  square.  The  divisions  form 
obtuse  and  acute  angles,  or  arcs  of  a  circle, 
almost  without  number.  All  this  implies  extra 
expense  in  the  internal  construction  and  usually 
a  great  waste  of  space.  The  illustrations  of 
these  barns  have  a  certain  charm  difficult 
to  resist,  but  some  of  the  most  intelligent 
farmers  who  have  made  a  study  of  the  octagon 


Location  for  the  Bam  255 

barn  and  have  used  it,  decide  that  rectan- 
gular barns  are  much  to  be  preferred.  Some 
who  have  built  octagon  barns  speak  well  of 
them,  but  this  might  naturally  be  expected.  A 
woman  generally  speaks  well  of  her  husband 
after  she  has  secured  him,  however  faulty  he 
may  be. 

LOCATION 

The  location  of  the  proposed  structure  should 
be  considered  with  the  most  painstaking  care 
before  entering  upon  the  construction  of  a  new 
building  or  the  remodeling  of  an  old  one.  Too 
often  a  single  idea  dominates  the  location.  Some 
thirty  years  since  I  decided  to  erect  a  large 
basement  barn.  The  house,  a  modest,  com- 
fortable structure,  was  located  at  a  suitable  dis- 
tance from  the  highway,  on  a  gentle  slope.  To 
utilize  the  highway  for  driving  the  animals  to 
and  from  pasture,  and  to  save  the  use  of  the 
fourth  of  an  acre  of  land  and  the  building  of 
some  twenty  rods  of  fence,  the  barn  was  located 
nearer  the  highway  than  the  house.  This  neces- 
sitated locating  the  barnyard  between  the  high- 
way and  the  barn.  I  never  discovered  this  fool- 
ish mistake  till  years  afterwards,  when  age  and 
study  had  improved  my  judgment  and  oppor- 
tunity had  been  given  for  wide  observation  and 
comparison.    Now  when  I  revisit  the  farm  it  is 


The   Location  257 

all  too  plain  as  to  where  the  barn  should  have 
been  located.  This  large  barn  made  the  house 
appear  mnch  smaller  than  before,  and  from  one 
approach  the  farm  had  the  appearance  of  being 
untenanted,  as  the  barn  hid  the  house.  It  is 
humiliating,  but  how  could  I  have  known  better 
at  that  time  of  life,  with  ideas  of  barn  building 
inherited  and  with  neither  book  nor  teacher  to 
guide  me  ? 

The  barn  should  be  located  far  enough  from 
the  house  to  prevent  the  aromas  of  the  stables 
and  kitchen  from  mingling,  and  at  such  a  dis- 
tance as  not  to  seriously  endanger  either  one,  if 
the  other  should  be  destroyed  by  fire.  If  possi- 
ble, the  barn  should  be  on  lower  ground  than 
the  house,  that  no  wash  or  seepage  from  it  may 
tend  toward  the  house,  and  for  other  sanitary 
reasons.  The  lower  level  will  assist  to  make  the 
barns  inconspicuous.  One  hundred  feet  is  the 
minimum  distance  which  should  intervene  be- 
tween these  inflammable  and  expensive  structures, 
except  in  a  very  cold  climate,  where  the  house 
andh  the  barn  may  be  connected  by  a  covered 
way.  See  Figs.  94  and  95.  This  way  need  not 
be  expensive,  and  should  be  so  constructed  that 
it  can  be  pulled  down  in  a  few  minutes  in  case 
of  fire.  It  need  not  be  high,  and  the  roof  might 
pitch  but  one  way  and  be  composed,  in  part  at 
least,  of  glass.     If  the  entire  roof  was   of   glass 


258  The   Farmstead 

one  side  of  the  covered  walk  might  well  be  used 
in  the  spring  for  growing  early  vegetables.  If 
the  manure  be  properly  cared  for  at  the  far  end 
of  the  barn,  good  sanitary  conditions  would  be 
preserved. 

The  refuse  of  the  stables,  if  left  exposed  at 
the  barns  in  the  summer,  forms  breeding 
ground  for  flies,  which  reach  the  house  if  it  be 
near.  The  substitution  of  electric  street  cars,  for 
horse  cars  which  necessitated  numerous  stables, 
has  noticeably  diminished  flies  in  the  cities. 
There  should  be  room  between  the  house  and 
barn  for  a  score  or  more  of  large  trees,  which 
may  serve,  in  part,  to  screen  each  building  from 
the  other  in  case  of  fire,  to  shade  the  walk  be- 
tween the  two  buildings,  and,  in  part,  the  barn 
itself.  No  tree  is  better  adapted  for  this  pur- 
pose than  the  white  elm.  The  open  barnyard 
should,  wherever  possible,  be  discarded,  for  it 
tends  to  increase  the  wasting  of  manures  and 
the  cost  of  getting  them  to  the  field;  to  the 
multiplication  of  fences  and  flies,  and  to  unnec- 
essary exposure  of  animals.  Why  not  substitute 
paddocks  or  small  fields  of  a  few  acres  for  the 
wasteful,  expensive  barnyard?  If  the  animals 
need  exercise  they  should  take  it  at  suitable 
times  in  closely- sodded  fields,  or  covered  yards, 
rather  than  in  confined  barnyards  filled  with  a 
mixture    of    straw,   mud    and    manure.      A   few 


Paddocks   vs.   Yards  259 

acres  near  the  bam  might  be  surrounded  with  a 
woven  wire  fence,  which  would  serve  admirably 
for  an  exercising  yard.  The  sod  on  this  small 
area  might  become  seriously  injured  in  a  year  or 
two,  but  the  field  would  be  enriched  by  the  drop- 
pings of  the  animals.  The  field  in  such  case 
could  be  plowed  and  the  wire  used  to  enclose 
another  paddock.  But  it  will  be  many  years  be- 
fore the  open  barnyard  can  be,  or  will  be,  en- 
tirely abandoned.  What  may,  and  should  be 
done  immediately,  is  to  place  it  at  the  rear, 
instead  of  at  the  front  of  the  barn,  and  to  cease 
using  it  for  baptizing  manures,  and  as  a  storage 
area  for  miscellaneous  odds  and  ends.  If  some 
change  is  not  made,  the  farm  boy  may  find  a 
chamber  window  from  which  a  more  restful  and 
inspiring  view  may  be  secured  than  from  the 
one  through  which  he  now  views  daily  the  evi- 
dences of  thriftlessness  and  waste. 

PLANNING    THE    BARN 

Make  a  good  study  of  many  barns  at  short 
range ;  note  what  features  are  good,  what 
faulty,  what  useless  ;  by  this  means  much  will 
have  been  learned  and  many  mistakes  will  be 
avoided.  Decide  approximately  the  capacity 
which  will  be  required.  First,  draw  a  rectan- 
gular   diagram    of    the    barn,   then    proceed    to 


260  The   Farmstead 

the  proposed  location  and  take  a  seat ;  make 
a  most  careful  study  of  the  approach,  the  in- 
cline of  the  land,  note  where  fences  and  gates 
will  be  necessary,  where  and  how  the  water  is 
to  be  introduced  —  in  fact,  take  in  the  whole  prob- 
lem of  the  environment  of  the  proposed  struc- 
ture. Then  imagine  that  you  see  the  barn,  and 
that  you  have  just  arrived  from  town  some 
stormy  night  with  your  wife  and  baby  ;  in  im- 
agination help  them  out  of  the  carriage.  Im- 
agine you  have  a  span  of  young,  restless  horses 
which  you  have  driven  to  get  them  used  to  city 
ways  before  selling  them.  That  will  make  you 
think  of  a  platform  onto  which  the  family  may 
step  from  the  carriage  while  you  are  holding  the 
colts.  Consider  how  many  big  doors  you  will 
have  to  open  before  the  colts  are  made  comfort- 
able for  the  night.  Are  the  democrat  wagon  and 
the  colts  to  be  kept  on  the  same  floor,  or  one 
up -stairs  and  the  other  down?  Or  is  the  car- 
riage in  one  building  situated  four  rods  from 
the  horses?  How  many  gates  and  doors  have 
you  opened  and  closed  since  you  arrived  ? 
Think  it  all  over,  and  then  go  to  the  house  and 
talk  it  over  with  your  wife,  for  some  day  she 
may  drive  to  town,  and  on  her  return  find  that 
both  you  and  the  farm  hands  are  in  the  field, 
and  that  there  is  no  one  to  help  her  put  the 
team  away.     After  imagination  has  pictured  the 


Matured  Plans  261 

conditions  which  are  likely  to  prevail,  then 
begin  to  cautiously  modify  the  rectangular  dia- 
gram ;  surround  it  with  dotted  lines,  which  may 
represent  roads,  fences,  gates,  lanes,  and  ad- 
junct buildings.  Then  take  a  rest ;  lay  the 
sketch  away  for  a  time  ;  study  barns  in  the 
neighborhood  ;  council  with  the  wife  again,  for 
she  may  have  to  go  to  the  barn  often.  After  a 
year  of  faithful  and  intelligent  planning  you  may 
be  able  to  place  a  well  digested  rough  sketch 
of  the  proposed  structure  in  the  hands  of  a 
draughtsman. 

WATER    SUPPLY 

It  would  seem  to  be  unnecessary  to  repeat 
the  axiom,  "No  water,  no  plant  or  animal  life," 
but  so  many  buildings,  both  public  and  private, 
are  located  and  constructed  before  the  problem 
of  supplying  an  ample,  perennial  supply  of  pota- 
ble water  is  solved,  that  it  seems  necessary  to 
brieTry  treat  this  subject. 

Several  public  institutions  with  which  I  have 
been  familiar  have  erected  expensive  structures 
before  supplying  water  for  them.  Three  and 
sometimes  five  separate  attempts  were  made  to 
furnish  water  for  the  use  of  the  plant,  none  of 
which  were  entirely  successful. 

The  amount  of  water  needed  and  the  condi- 
tions  under    which   it   must   be   secured   are   so 


262  The   Farmstead 

variable  that  few  specific  directions  can  be 
given.  One  simple,  certain  and  cheap  way  of 
securing  water  for  the  barn  is  usually  neglected. 
In  some  sections  of  the  South,  by  reason  of 
peculiar  geological  formations,  the  practice  of 
constructing  pools  or  storage  reservoirs  has  be- 
come common.  A  slight  depression  or  draw  or 
swale  is  selected  and  dammed  by  using  the  earth 
from  the  bottom  of  the  proposed  pool  and  from 
the  higher  land  adjoining.  No  stone  or  wood 
is  necessary  to  support  the  dam.  The  only  pre- 
caution necessary  is  to  have  a  broad  base  (see 
Fig.  7) ,  and  to  provide  sufficiently  large  outflows 
or  spillways,  one  on  either  end  of  the  dam,  that 
the  pool  may  never  rise  higher  than  within  two 
feet  from  the  top  of  the  dam.  The  surface  soil, 
if  it  contains  much  vegetable  matter,  should  be 
scraped  off  a  strip  three  to  four  feet  wide  and 
as  long  as  the  dam,  and  the  depression  filled 
with  earth — clay  is  best  — that  contains  little  or 
no  organic  matter.  If  the  bottom  of  the  dam 
where  it  meets  the  normal  earth  is  constructed 
with  sods,  or  other  material  which  will  decay, 
in  time  the  water  will  find  its  way  through  the 
porous  earth. 

The  pools  of  the  South,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  sometimes  have  an  extreme 
depth  of  12  to  15  feet,  and  may  cover  a  fraction 
of  an  acre  or  several  acres.     I  have  known  one 


Pools   and    Cisterns  263 

of  these  pools  to  furnish  water  for  a  hundred 
head  of  cattle  during  a  long  continued  drought. 
It  is  difficult  to  explain  why  more  pools,  lakes 
and  fish  ponds  are  not  constructed .  Possibly 
the  reasons  are  that  there  is  a  prejudice  against 
them,  and  well  there  may  be,  since  they  are 
usually  so  shallow  that  the  water  becomes  im- 
pure, and  since  it  is  not  generally  realized  that 
a  substantial  dam  can  be  erected  by  the  use  of 
earth  alone.  -If  it  is  thought  advisable  not  to 
allow  the  animals  to  go  to  the  pool,  it  may  be 
fenced,  since  it  is  not  expensive  to  lay  a  pipe 
in  the  dam,  when  it  is  being  constructed,  on  a 
level  with  the  bottom  of  the  pool,  the  outer  end  of 
the  pipe  being  furnished  with  a  ball  and  cock 
to  regulate  the  flow  of  water  into  the  trough. 

Usually  it  is  not  advisable  to  build  cisterns 
for  storing  water  for  barn  use,  since  they  are  too 
expensive  if  built  as  large  as  needed.  A  cow  re- 
quires from  forty  to  eighty  pounds  of  water  daily 
in  the  summer.  If  sixty  pounds  be  taken  as  the 
average,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  would  require  a 
cistern  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  ca- 
pacity to  supply  a  herd  of  fifty  animals  for 
one  month.  In  some  cases  the  water  of  a  stream 
or  well  may  be  so  highly  charged  with  the  pro- 
ducts of  magnesian  limestone  as  to  produce 
goitre,  in  which  case  soft  water  should  be  sup- 
plied for  the  horses. 


264  The   Farmstead 

Streams  or  springs  are  often  available  for 
summer,"  but  they  seldom  supply  ideal  water 
conditions  in  winter.  Young  animals,  and  es- 
pecially cows  in  milk,  should  not  be  required  to 
drink  water  at  a  low  temperature  or  be  forced 
to  travel  long  distances  for  it  in  cold  weather. 
The  only  really  satisfactory  method  of  supplying 
the  domestic  animals  with  water  is  to  bring  it 
into  the  barn,  and  if  the  water  in  the  pipes  is 
not  under  pressure,  a  small  storage  tank  may  be 
placed  in  a  mow  and  surrounded  by  straw. 
Such  storage  tank  may  be  built,  if  small,  out  of 
rough  2 -inch  plank,  spiked  together,  or,  if 
large,  of  2-  by  4 -inch  scantling,  spiked  flatwise 
one  upon  the  other;  in  both  cases  the  tank  is 
lined  with  galvanized  iron.  All  barns  provided 
with  steam  boilers  should  also  be  provided  with 
a  few  small  steam  pipes  leading  to  the  water 
boxes,  that  the  drinking  water  of  the  animals 
may  be  raised  in  winter  to  98°  Fahr. 

Animals  do  not  relish  lukewarm  water  in  the 
winter,  but  they  really  enjoy  hot  water.  The 
economy  and  safety  of  using  hot  drinking  water 
will  justify  the  expense  of  providing  it.  This  is 
especially  true  in  the  winter  dairy  and  when 
horses  have  severe  winter  work.  An  overheated, 
tired  horse  may  drink  all  the  hot  water  he  de- 
sires without  danger.  Water  taken  into  the 
stomach  at  40°  Fahr.  must  absorb  heat  enough 


Hot    Water  in   Barns  265 

from  the  system  to  raise  it  to  about  99°.  To 
do  this  food  must  be  burned,  as  literally  as 
coal  is  burned  in  the  boiler  to  heat  water. 
It  requires  more  units  of  heat  to  raise  a  pound 
of  water  one  degree  in  temperature  than  any 
other  substance  except  two  or  three  of  the  gases. 
There  are  now  so  many  styles  of  really  good 
air  motors  or  wind  mills,  that  water  from  wells 
may  be  pumped  at  a  minimum  cost  into  storage 
tanks.  There  is  no  longer  any  excuse  for  pump- 
ing water  by  hand  for  any  considerable  number 
of  animals,  nor  for  compelling  them  to  seek 
water  in  cold  weather  at  some  distant  stream. 
As  has  been  said,  there  are  many  ways  of  secur- 
ing a  supply  of  water  for  the  barn.  The  de- 
tails of  accomplishing  the  results  desired  are 
many,  but  the  result  should  always  be  the  same: 
an  abundant  supply  of  water  within  the  barn 
under  more  or  less  pressure.  If  this  is  not  se- 
cured the  plans  of  a  barn,  as  a  whole,  are  un- 
satisfactory. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

BUILDING    THE   BARN— THE   BASEMENT 

Squaking  the  foundation  site  is  a  simple 
operation,  yet  few  are  able  to  perform  it,  and 
it  is  seldom  that  a  surveyor  is  at  hand.  Build- 
ings are  so  generally  placed  with  their  fronts 
parallel  to  the  highway  or  the  private  way,  that 
the  road  may  be  assumed  to  be  the  base  line. 
Four  stakes  set  in  the  middle  of  the  road, 
as  shown  in  Fig.  96,  establish  the  base  line, 
from  which  is  measured  the  distance  from  the 
road  at  which  it  is  desired  to  place  the  building. 
The  stakes  A  and  B  should  be  placed  farther 
apart  than  the  width  of  the  front  of  the  build- 
ing ;  they  are  connected  by  a  line  which  is  par- 
allel to  the  road  and  forms  the  permanent  base 
line.  Next  the  stakes  C  and  D  are  placed,  and 
also  connected  by  a  line.  With  a  10 -foot  pole, 
six  feet  are  measured  off  on  either  line,  begin- 
ning at  the  intersection  of  the  lines,  and  eight 
feet  on  the  other  line.  If  the  line  C  to  D  is  at 
right  angles  to  the  line  AB,  the  10 -foot  meas- 
ure will  just  reach  from  6  to  8,  since  6  multi- 
plied by  6,  plus  8  multiplied  by  8,  equals   100, 

(266) 


Squaring   the  Foundation 


267 


and  the  square  root  of  100  is  10.  Should  the 
10 -foot  measure  be  longer  than  from  6  to  8, 
the  stake  D  is  moved  to  the  left  until  the  pole 
reaches  from  6  to  8  ;  if  the  measure  is  too  short 
to  reach  from  6  to  8,  the  stake  is  moved  to  the 


,f                        sf                       sNr                       si 

;      ( 

; 

f- 

/ 

Fig. 


Locating  the  barn. 


right.  All  of  these  measurements  should  be 
gone  over  two  or  three  times,  as  in  moving  the 
stake  the  lines  may  stretch  or  shrink.  Either  a 
pin  or  a  pencil  mark  may  be  used  to  indicate 
the  measurements  on  the  lines  at  6  and  8. 

If  the  building  is  to  be  26  feet  deep,  that 
distance  is  measured  on  the  line  CD  and  the 
same  distance  from  the  line  AB.  Stakes  are 
then  driven  and  a  line  drawn  from  E  to  F,  and 
in  like  manner  a  line  is  drawn  from  G  to  H. 
The  work  is  verified  by  squaring  the  last  angle 
as  in  the  first  case.      The  eight  dots  represent 


268  The   Farmstead 

stakes  driven  in  even  with  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  at  just  10  feet  from  the  corners.  Since 
it  will  be  necessary  to  remove  the  lines  before 
the  horse  scraper  can  be  used  in  excavating, 
and  as  the  construction  stakes  at  the  corners 
will  be  disturbed,  the  short  stakes  become 
necessary  that  the  lines  may  be  restored  as  the 
work  proceeds  and  the  excavation  kept  square 
and  true.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  line  drawn 
from  A  to  B  will  restore  the  base  line,  and  in 
like  manner  the  other  lines  may  be  quickly 
reproduced.  It  will  be  necessary,  too,  to  restore 
these  lines  before  the  foundation  wall  is  begun. 
By  "plumbing"  downward  from  the  restored 
lines,  other  lines  may  be  placed  in  the  bottom 
of  the  excavation,  which  will  be  duplicates  of 
those   first   drawn. 

EXCAVATION 

Barns  are  now  usually  built  with  a  basement 
story.  This  implies  that  the  building  is  to  be 
placed  on  more  or  less  sloping  ground,  in  which 
case  the  removal  of  some  earth  will  be  neces- 
sary. The  basement  story  should  extend  well 
above  ground,  to  economize  construction  and  to 
secure  dry  walls  and  floors.  It  is  a  great  mis- 
take to  place  animals  in  cellars.  The  dotted 
line    in    Fig.    97    shows    an    incline    rather    too 


Locating   the   Basement 


269 


steep ;  and  in  Fig.  98  one  that  is  not  steep 
enough.  It  is  better  to  place  the  barn  where 
wanted,  even  if  the  incline  has   to   be   changed, 


Fig.  97.  ~  The  original  incline  or  slope  is  too  steep. 

than  to  place  it  in  an  unhandy  position  that 
the  best  slope  may  be  secured.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  construct  a  basement  barn  on  level  or 
nearly  level  land.  In  the  latter  case,  all  of  the 
basement  walls  may  be  of  wood,  since  provision 
can  be  made  for  a  driveway  to  the  second  floor 
by  means   of  a  retaining  wall  built  some  ten  or 


■BSi 
Fig.  98.    The  original  slope  is  not  steep  enough. 

twelve  feet  from  the  barn ;  the  space  between 
the  wall  and  the  barn  may  be  bridged  (Fig. 
99).  Cast-off  steel  or  iron  rails  form  durable 
and    excellent   sleepers    for   such   a    bridge,   the 


270 


The   Farmstead 


plank  being  kept  in  place  by  spiking  two -inch 
pieces,  one  on  either  end  on  top  of  the  bridge 

plank.  In  case  no 
retaining  wall  is 
built,  and  the  earth 
lies  immediately 
against  the  basement 
wall(Fig.lOO) , damp- 
ness may  be  largely 
prevented  from 
reaching  the  stable 
and  the  animals  by  building  a  second  wall  across 
the  side  or  end  of  the  barn,  inclosing  a  space 
or  room  for  roots  immediately  under  the  drive  - 


Fig.  99.    Bridge  into  the  barn. 


Fig.  100.    An  embankment  entrance,  with  retaining  walls  holding 
the  corners. 

way.  The  floor  over  this  root- cellar  should  be 
deafened  to  prevent  frost  entering  from  above 
(Fig.  101).     The    second  wall  will  remain   com- 


Floor   and    Wall    Construction 


271 


paratively  dry,  since  no  damp  earth  rests  against 
it.  This  location  of  the  root- cellar  makes  it  con- 
venient for  unloading  the  roots  through  trap 
doors    in  the   floor,  which  are  kept  partly   open 


Pig.  101.    Deafening  or  packing  the  floor,  to  keep  out  cold. 

for   a  time    after   the   roots   have   been   put   in, 
to  prevent  them  from  heating. 


WALLS 

The  foundation  walls  for  barns  need  not 
necessarily  extend  below  frost,  if  the  earth  is  as 
dry  as  it  should  be  ;  for  a  slight  settling  of  the 
building  does  not  result  in  injury,  as  in  the 
plastered  house.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to 
make  the  walls  broad  and  strong  and  to  have 
them   well  drained. 

Masons  understand  the  necessity  of  bond- 
ing stone  walls,  and  know  how  to  perform  the 
work;  but  too  often  they  are  careless,  and  there- 
fore need  to  be  supervised.  In  Fig.  102,  a  well 
bonded  wall  is  shown  at  the  left  end,  and  one 
imperfectly   bonded    at   the   other.     If   the    wall 


272 


The   Farmstead 


should  chance  to  pull  endwise  a  crack  would 
appear  to  the  right  of  the  dotted  line,  since  in 
the  seven  layers  shown  there   is   but  one  stone, 

A,  that  has  suffi- 
cient contact  to 
bond  the  two 
stones  upon  which 
it  rests.  The  wall 
should  also  have 
its  face  and  back 
side  tied  together 
or  bonded,  or  it 
may  split  apart 
near  the  middle. 
Two  walls,  one  of 
which  is  properly 
bonded,  the  other 
is  not,  are  shown 
in  Fig.  103.  One 
layer  only  of  stone 
can  be  shown  in  the  diagram,  but  it  will  readily 
be  seen  that  if  the  course  which  is  placed  on  the 
one  shown  is  laid  like  it, — that  is,  if  the  faulty 
bonding  near  the  back  side  be  continued  for 
several  courses  —  the  wall  will  pull  apart.  The 
small,  narrow  stones  have  been  placed  at  the 
back  side  of  the  wall,  and  the  good  stones  in 
the  front  of  the  wall;  this  is  all  very  well, 
but    some    long    stones    should    reach    from   the 


Fig.  102. 
Good  and  faulty  construction  in  a  wall. 


Good   Mortar 


273 


back  side  of  the  wall  to  near  the  face,  if  the 
bond  is  made  good.  No  stone  should  reach 
entirely  through  the  wall,  since  in  cold  weather 
the  frost  will  follow  through  such  stones  from 
face    to    rear. 

There  is  no  economy  in  using  mortar  which 
is  poorly  mixed  or  that  which  contains  too 
much  sand  and  too  little  lime  or  cement.  If 
the  lime  or  cement,  that 
is,  the  binding  mate- 
rial, does  not  come  into 
immediate  contact  with 
every  particle  of  sand, 
then  the  mortar  will  be 
weak.  If  not  enough  of 
the  cement  or  •  lime  is 
used,""  the  bond  will  also 
be  weak.  For  stone 
walls  not  more  than  four 
parts  of  sand  to  one  of 
cement  or  lime  should 
be  used.  If  the  sand  be 
sharp  and  clean  a  much 
stronger  mortar  is  se- 
cured than  when  it  is 
composed  in  part  of  rotten  sand  mixed  with  vege- 
table matter.  If  the  materials  are  good  and  they 
are  mixed  in  the  right  proportion,  still  good  mor- 
tar will  not  be  secured  unless  they  be  thoroughly 


Fig.  103. 
Poorly  and  properly  bonded. 


274  The   Farmstead 

mixed.     The  best  masons  use  the  least  mortar, 
while   poor   masons    are  wasteful   of   it. 

The  prices  given  below  are  not  applicable 
to  the  whole  United  States,  but  they  may  serve 
to  decide  the  relative  proportions  of  sand  and 
lime  which  should  be  used,  and  the  kind  of 
lime  which  can  be  used  most  economically. 
Water  lime  retails  at  about  eighty  cents  per 
barrel,  and  three  parts  of  sand  and  one  of  lime, 
if  the  latter  is  fresh,  should  make  a  strong 
mortar.  Water  lime  deteriorates  rapidly  with 
age,  while  the  higher  priced  cements  deteriorate 
quite  slowly.  Stone  lime  should  be  fresh  and 
in  no  case  air -slaked.  It  costs  about  one 
dollar  a  barrel  and  may  be  mixed  three  of 
sand  to  one  of  lime.  Rosedale  cement  costs 
about  $1.25  per  barrel,  and  may  be  mixed  four 
to  one.  Portland  cement  costs  about  $3  per 
barrel,  and  if  used  instead  of  the  cheaper 
materials  named  above,  may  be  mixed  five  to 
one.  It  should  always  be  used  for  pointing 
walls  and  in  the  construction  of  cemented 
floors,  in  which  case  it  should  be  mixed  two 
or  three  to  one.  All  this  presupposes  that 
the  mortar  is  so  thoroughly  mixed  that  a  lime 
film  will   surround   every  particle   of    sand. 

The  cement  and  water  lime  is  mixed  with 
the  sand  before  it  is  wet,  and  this  dry  mixing 
should  be  most  thorough,  as  the  strength  of  the 


Stone   vs.   Wooden    Walls  275 

mortar  is  largely  dependent  on  the  uniform 
incorporation  of  the  cement  with  the  sand. 
This  mixing  can  be  much  more  perfectly  done 
when  the  material  is  dry  than  after  it  is  wet. 
Other  precautions  are  necessary.  The  mortar 
should  contain  the  minimum  of  water  which 
will  permit  it  to  work  freely,  and  when  the 
mortar  is  used  it  should  be  solidified,  that  is, 
pushed  together  by  means  of  a  trowel  or  by 
the  material  which  is  laid  upon  it.  In  case  of 
cement  or  grout  floors,  the  material  should  be 
pounded  thoroughly.  The  object  of  all  this  is 
to  compel  each  particle  of  sand  to  firmly  touch 
other  particles.  The  tendency  to  "water-log" 
mortar,  to  save  labor  in  spreading  it,  is  too 
comhlon. 

If,  from  any  cause,  the  basement  walls  must 
be  largely  of  stone,  the  tendency  for  them  to 
gather  moisture  may  be  somewhat  overcome  by 
plastering  them  with  cement  mortar,  or  studding 
may  be  placed  against  the  walls  upon  which 
unmatched  boards  may  be  nailed  (Fig.  104). 
The  warm  air  of  the  stable  cannot  then  reach 
the  relatively  cold  walls,  and  little  condensation 
will  appear  on  the  boards,  since  they  are  always 
more  nearly  the  temperature  of  the  stable  than 
are    the    stone. 

Wooden  basement  walls  are  preferable  in  all 
ways    to    those    constructed    of    stone,    grout   or 


276 


The   Farmstead 


brick,  wherever  the  earth  does  not  rest  against 
them.  An  excellent  method  of  constructing  the 
walls  of  the  basement  story  is  shown  in  a 
section  of  the  first  story,  Fig.  104.  The  stud- 
ding should  be  2x6  inches,  with  short  pieces  of 
2x4  placed  edgewise  between  them  to  serve  as 
outside   nailing   girts. 

A    broad,    steep    water-table    is    placed     just 
above  the  upper  end  of   the  studding  to  receive 


Fig.  104.     Lining  the  basement  wall. 


the  boarding  above  the  basement  and  to  im- 
prove the  outside  appearance  of  the  building. 
After  the  outside  boarding  of  the  basement  and 
the  window  frames  are  placed,  the  insidQ  of  the 
wall  is  boarded  horizontally  with  unmatched  sea- 
soned lumber,  and  as  the  boards  are  being  put  on, 
the  hollow  wall  space  is  filled  with  short  straw 
or  straw  and  chaff.  This  construction  has  proved 
to  be  the  most   satisfactory  of  any  tried.      The 


Basement   Floor  277 

wall  is  cheap,  durable,  dry,  excludes  the  cold, 
and  still  allows  a  little  fresh  air  to  enter  the 
stables  gradually.  Objection  has  been  made  to 
this  construction  on  the  ground  that  it  harbors 
mice  and  rats.  After  having  used  buildings 
with  walls  of  this  character  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century,  I  must  say  that  the  objection  is  not 
well  taken. 

FLOORS 

The  floor  of  the  first  story  should  be  partly 
of  wood  and  partly  of  cement  or  of  brick. 

All  voidings  of  the  animals  should  be 
removed  from  the  stable  at  least  once  a  day. 
Allowing  the  manure  to  drop  through  gratings, 
with  the  view  of  letting  it  remain  there  more 
than  one  day,  is  decidedly  wrong,  and  any  ar- 
rangement which  does  not  admit  of  the  thorough 
cleaning  and  airing  of  the  stable  daily  is  objec- 
tionable. Nor  is  the  practice  of  washing  out 
the  stables  economical,  since  it  necessitates  great 
waste  of  manure  or  too  great  expense  in  caring 
for  and  removing  the  diluted  excreta.  If  the 
floors  and  stable  be  well  cleaned  with  shovel  and 
broom,  and  dusted  with  gypsum,  dry  earth,  saw- 
dust, or  chaffy  material,  good  sanitary  conditions 
will  be  secured  easily  and  cheaply.  While  the 
stables  are  being  cleaned  and  treated  they  should 


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Floors  279 

also  be  aired.  The  animals  meantime  should  be 
allowed  to  stretch  their  limbs,  by  which  it  is 
not  meant  that  they  should  be  hooking  one 
another  around  a  muddy  barnyard,  or  running 
foot  races  up  and  down  the  lane.  On  the  one 
hand,  it  may  be  all  well  enough  for  those  who 
sell  animals  at  fabulous  prices  and  have  long 
bank  accounts,  to  procure  water -proof  blankets 
for  them,  and  to  accompany  them  on  their  regu- 
lar daily  "constitutional."  The  other  extreme  is 
where  the  animals  are  fastened  by  the  head  or 
neck  by  contrivances  not  always  comfortable, 
and  left  standing  for  six  months  without  being 
removed  from  their  stall.  Is  there  not  a  happy 
medium  between  these  two  extremes  ? 

Animals  are  more  comfortable  on  a  wooden 
floor  than  on  one  built  of  either  brick,  cement, 
or  asphalt.  Notwithstanding  this,  most  of  the 
floor  of  the  basement  should  be  constructed  of 
more  durable  material  than  wood.  If  the  ani- 
mals are  kept  fully  bedded,  as  they  usually  are 
not,  then  it  would  be  best  to  discard  wooden 
floors  entirely.  Fig.  105  shows  a  basement  floor 
designed  for  cattle.  The  part  where  the  animals 
stand  is  of  wood,  the  balance  of  hard  or 
pavement  brick  set  edgewise  on  a  bed  of  sand. 
The  cement  or  grout  floor  may  be  substituted 
for  the  brick  if  desired.  If  the  cracks  between 
the    bricks    in    the    floor    are    filled    with    thin 


280  The   Farmstead 

cement  mortar,  the  floor  becomes  water-tight, 
though  this  is  not  necessary  except  in  the 
gutters.  The  ground  underneath  the  wooden 
floor  should  be  leveled  and  pounded,  and 
covered  with  a  thin  layer  of  salt  to  preserve 
the  wood.  The  plank  which  forms  the  side  of 
the  drip  should  be  of  oak  or  some  other 
durable  wood.  The  2x4  pieces  to  which  the 
floor  is  nailed  when  first  built,  need  not  be 
replaced  when  they  rot,  since  the  dirt  underneath 
will  be  smooth  and  hard.  The  large  nails 
which  fasten  the  floor  to  the  oak  piece  at  the 
rear  and  the  mangers  combined  will  suffice  to 
keep  the  floor  plank  in  place  ;  the  only  object 
in  placing  the  nailing  pieces  at  first  is  to 
facilitate  construction.  The  plank  of  the  floor 
should  be  of  some  uniform  standard  width,  as 
8,  10,  or  12  inches  wide,  that  repairs  may  be 
made   quickly  when  the   floor  gives  way. 

STALLS 

When  a  dairy  of  some  size  is  kept,  the  cows 
may  be  arranged  in  double  rows.  Fifty  cows 
could  be  crowded  into  a  barn  80x32  feet.  But 
fifty  cows  of  800  pounds  each  weigh  40,000 
pounds;  and  if  the  stable  is  ten  feet  from  the 
top  of  the  lower  floor  to  the  bottom  of  the 
upper  floor,  it  would  contain    only  25,600  cubic 


Air   Space   Required  281 

feet  of  air  space.  This  is  manifestly  too  little, 
as  1  cubic  foot  of  air  space  should  be  allowed 
for  each  pound  of  live  animal.  Many  stables, 
in  fact  most  stables,  provide  but  one -half  of  a 
cubic  foot  of  air  space  for  each  pound  of  live 
animal  kept  in  them ;  in  such  case  it  is  im- 
possible to  keep  the  air  approximately  pure  or 
the  stable  decently  sweet.  To  realize  what  this 
means,  suppose  a  bedchamber  be  constructed 
for  a  man  weighing  160  pounds.  If  one  foot 
of  air  space  be  provided  for  each  pound  of 
live  weight,  the  chamber  might  be  built  4  feet 
wide,  7  feet  long  and  6  feet  high.  This  would 
give  168  cubic  feet  of  air  space.  If  the  bed- 
chamber be  made  proportionally  as  large  as 
are  most  cow  stables,  its  dimensions  would  be 
3  feet  wide,  6%  feet  long  and  4%  feet  high. 
To  insure  good  air  in  such  a  sleeping  room 
one  side  of  it  would  have  to  be  knocked  out. 
If  one  or  two  box -stalls  and  one  feed -bin  are 
provided  in  an  80x32 -foot  barn,  with  12 -foot 
ceilings  (Fig.  105),  and  room  for  a  hallway, 
3  feet  wide,  be  left  at  one  end  of  the  building, 
it  will  then  accommodate  thirty- nine  animals. 
Each  one  would  have  800  cubic  feet  of  air 
space,  the  required  amount.  The  first  story  of 
most  cow  stables  is  about  seven  feet.  It  is 
seen  how  easily  the  stable  may  be  overcrowded. 
A  high  story  gives  opportunity  for  long  windows 


282  The   Farmstead 

and  for  placing  them  well  up  from  the  floor, 
and  for  good  ventilation.  If  the  ceiling  is  to 
be  reduced  in  height,  which  it  well  may  be, 
the    building   should    be    proportionately  longer. 

A  section  of  a  part  of  the  inside  of  the  wall 
with  swing  windows  is  shown  in  Fig.  106.  The 
windows  should  be  of  one  sash  and  hung  near 
the  middle,  as  shown,  by  means  of  a  piece  of 
iron  %  of  an  inch  in  diameter  and  4  inches 
long.  A  hole  for  the  reception  of  the  iron,  and 
of  the  same  size,  is  made  through  the  window 
sash  and  extends  into  the  jambs  of  the  frame 
about  one  inch.  A  button  on  the  side  of  the 
jamb  is  used  to  hold  the  window  partly  open 
when  required.  This  allows  cool  air  to  pass 
in  at  the  bottom  and  the  warm,  vitiated  air  to 
pass  out  at  the  top  in  small,  broken  streams. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  in  case  of  a  storm  no 
rain  or  strong  current  of  air  can  reach  the 
stable.  Usually  too  few  and  too  small  windows 
are  provided,  through  which  the  manure  from 
the  stables  is  not  unfrequently  thrown. 

Some  additional  ventilators  should  be  pro- 
vided ;  these  may  consist  of  wooden  tubes 
extending  from  the  ceiling  through  the  roof, 
so  constructed  that  the  foul  air  may  enter 
them.  They  need  not  be  numerous  or  large, 
as  the  windows  when  slightly  open  form  excel- 
lent  ventilators.      Two    things    should    be    kept 


Windows   and    Ventilation 


283 


prominently  in  view  in  ventilation :  first,  no 
strong  draughts  of  air,  or,  as  a  distinguished 
professor  puts  it,  "great  gobs  of  raw  air,"  should 
be  introduced ;  second,  ventilators  should 
ventilate  both  at  the  ceiling  and  the  floor, 
as  in  these  two  places  will  be  found  the 
most  impure  air.  Ample  air  space  is  most 
economically  secured  by 
high  ceilings,  rather 
than  by  horizontal  en- 
largement. The  air  can 
be  kept  reasonably  pure 
by  the  introduction,  at 
several  points  near  the 
lowe£  floor,  of  small 
volumes  of  slowly  mov- 
ing  fresh    air. 

Two  stairs  should 
lead  from  the  basement 
to  the  second  floor  in 
all  large  barns  to 
economize  time ;  the 
openings  in  the  upper 
floor  had  best  be  pro- 
vided    With     flap     doOrS,     ^ig.  106.    A  swing  window  for  stable. 

which  can  be  left  open  in  muggy,  warm  weather 
to  assist  ventilation,  or  closed  in  cold  weather 
to    economize  warmth. 

Many  varieties  of  stanchion  for  confining  cat- 


284  The    Farmstead 

tie  in  stalls  are  in  use,  some  really  good,  but 
mostly  defective  in  one  or  more  respects.  It 
would  take  too  much  space  to  describe  all  of 
the  various  contrivances  and  to  illustrate  them 
and  to  call  attention  to  their  good  and  objec- 
tionable points.  Some  confine  the  animals  too 
closely,  others  give  too  much  freedom  and  allow 
them  to  become  soiled  ;  some  are  too  expensive, 
and  some  are  not  durable.  I  shall  describe  but 
one  kind  of  fastening  and  manger  which,  after 
trying  numerous  patent  arrangements,  has  been 
found  to  be  excellent..  It  is  quite  possible  that 
there  are  better  ones.  The  one  thing  which 
has  bee  a  learned  about  stanchions  by  experi- 
mentation and  observation  is  that  they  may 
be  so  complicated  and  handy  as  to  be  unhandy. 
The  size  and  character  of  the  "drip,"  the 
comfort  and  cleanliness  of  the  animals,  the  ease 
of  fastening  and  unfastening,  the  noise  or  quiet 
of  the  stable,  and  the  effect  on  the  animals, 
should  all  be  considered.  While  using  one 
stanchion,  the  animals  became  wild  and  made 
frantic  efforts  to  pull  their  heads  out  when  the 
attendant  approached  to  unfasten  them.  As 
soon  as  another  fastening  was  introduced  they 
became  docile.  With  one  stanchion  they  would 
lie  down  more  frequently  than  with  another. 
With  one  kind  of  manger  the  animals  are 
tempted  to   hook  one   another,  and    in  reaching 


Size   of  Stalls  285 

for  food  would  fall  upon  their  knees  and  injure 
themselves.  Most  of  the  contrivances  were  not 
easily  adjustable,  so  that  when  the  size,  or 
rather  length,  of  the  animals  varied  the  stand- 
ing room  was  either  too  short  or  too  long. 
Some  had  posts  to  sustain  the  stanchions;  these 
intercepted  the  light  and  prevented  an  unob- 
structed survey  of  the  animal.  They  gave  the 
stables  a  forbidding,  dark,  prison -like  appearance. 
The  individual  stalls  should  be,  for  smallish 
animals,  3  feet  6  inches  from  center  to  center, 
and  3  feet  8  inches  for  larger  animals.  The 
partitions  between  the  animals  need  extend  only 
far  enough  backward  and  upward  to  prevent 
them  from  reaching  each  other  with  their  horns. 
When  dishorning  is  practiced  the  partitions 
may  be  lower  than  when  it  is  not. 

MANGERS   AND   TIES 

The  cross  section  of  a  floor  and  the  skeleton 
of  a  bracket  upon  which  the  mangers  are  built 
are  shown  in  Fig.  107.  The  mangers  of  cattle 
stables  should  be  easily  movable.  This  can  be 
accomplished  in  the  following  way:  Construct 
one  more  bracket  than  the  number  of  stalls 
required  in  the  line  of  mangers.  Place  one 
of  the  brackets  at  the  end  and  one  inter- 
mediate   between    every  pair   of     stalls  ;     fasten 


286 


The    Farmstead 


them  lightly  to  the  floor  with  nails,  which 
should  be  removed  when  the  mangers  are  com- 
pleted.    Fig.    107   also    shows  the    cross    section 


Fig.  107.    The  building  of  a  manger. 


of   the    brackets,  with  bottom,   front,   and   back 
side   of   the   manger  placed. 

The  Newton  cattle  tie  (Fig.  108),  though 
rather  expensive,  has  proved  most  satisfactory. 
It  is  made  of  one  piece  of  round,  durable 
wood,  as  ash,  about  1%  inches  in  diameter  and 
bent  at  the  corners,  and  is  furnished  with  a 
flat  ring  which  encircles  the  bow 
at  the  middle,  to  which  is  at- 
tached a  swivel  ;  to  this  is 
fastened  a  rope  to  encircle  the 
animal's  neck,  the  rope  being 
furnished  with  suitable  fasten- 
ings at  the  ends.  The  bows 
are  attached  to  the  divisions  on  a  level  or  a 
little  above  the  animal's   throat  when   standing ; 


^ 


A 


Fig.  108. 
Newton  cattle  tie. 


Ties   and    Curtains  287 

when  lying  down  the  bow  rests  on  top  of  the 
manger,  which  is  abont  1%  feet  lower  than  the 
ends  of  the  bow.  It  will  be  seen  that  since 
the  bow  describes  an  arc  of  a  circle  in  passing 
downward,  it  tends  to  pnll  the  animal  towards 
the  manger  when  it  lies  down,  and  hence  away 
from  the   soiled  drip. 

In  midsummer  window  curtains,  drawn 
during  milking  time,  serve  to  quiet  the  flies 
and  the  cows,  as  does  also  a  light  spraying  of 
the  animals  with  kerosene  before  they  are 
turned  out  in  the  morning.  A  blanket  tacked 
over  the  entrance  door  to  the  cow  stable  will 
brush  most  of  the  flies  off  the  cattle  as  they 
enter. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

BUILDING    THE   BARN— THE   SUPERSTRUCTURE 

The  kind  of  superstructure  best  to  be 
adopted  for  the  barn  depends  on  many  condi- 
tions. The  balloon  construction  may  be  used 
for  small  barns,  but  large  ones  naturally  require 
large  timbers  or  many  small  ones,  hence  the 
old  style  of  frame -work,  with  some  modifica- 
tion, is  usually  adopted.  In  modern  barn 
buildings  the  main  timbers  are  reduced  in 
size,  more  and  lighter  braces  are  used  in  lieu 
of  the  large  mortised  and  pinned  braces.  They 
are  cut  with  smooth,  angled  ends  and  spiked  to 
posts  and  beams.  A  brace  of  2  x  4  inches  is 
inexpensive,  and  allows  of  following  the  old 
rule  of  placing  a  brace  in  every  angle  made 
by  the  principal  timbers. 

Another  modification  should  be  adopted  :  the 
joists,  so  far  as  possible,  should  rest  on  sills 
and  beams  and  not  be  gained  into  them.  It  is 
unwise  and  unscientific  to  cut  gains  for  the 
reception  of  the  ends  of  the  joists  at  consider- 
able expense,  since  such  gains  weaken  both 
joists   and   sills.     In  most  cases  the  joists  may 

(288) 


Bridging   and   Deafening 


289 


Fig.  109.    Laying  the  joist. 


be  placed  on  top  of  the  sills,  thereby  obviating 
the  necessity  of  framing,  while  preserving  the 
strength  of  sill  and  joist  entire.  When  it  is 
desirable,  as  it  often  is  in  small  structures,  to 
have  the  top  of  the  sill  or  beam  coincide  with 
the  tops  of  the  joists,  it  is 
cheaper  and  better  to  use  a 
rather  light  timber  and  for- 
tify it  by  nailing  upon  it 
2  x  4 -inch  studding  (Fig. 
109),  thereby  avoiding  the  necessity  of  cutting 
gains, '  while  giving  additional  strength  to  the 
timber  which  supports  the  joists. 

The  joists  in  barns  should  be  bridged  as  in 
houses.  That  part  of  the  barn  floor  which  is 
above  the  root- cellar  should  be  deafened,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  101.  Cleats  nailed  on  the  sides 
of  the  joists  serve  to  support  the  short  boards 
which  carry  the  deafening  material.  The  2 -inch 
space  between  the  false  and  the  true  floor  is 
filled  with  mortar  composed  of  about  five  or 
six  parts  of  sand  to  one  of  lime  or  cement. 
If  all  of  the  floor  driven  upon  above  the  base- 
ment is  deafened,  it  will  deaden  sound  and 
promote  warmth  in  the  lower  story. 

While  the  balloon  frame  has  been  almost 
universally  adopted  in  the  construction  of  houses, 
it  is  only  recently  that  large  barn  frames  have 
been  successfully  constructed  on  the  same  gen- 


290 


The   Farmstead 


eral  principles.  The  plank  frame  has  now  been 
so  modified  and  improved  that  it  serves  well 
for  the  largest  farm  building.  All  of  the  frame 
timbers  are  sawed  two  inches  thick  and  of  vari- 
able widths,  as  required.  Instead  of  uniting  the 
timbers  by  means  of  mortise  and  tenon,  they 
are     fastened    with    wire     spikes.        This     new 


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Fig.  110.     Barn  frame. 

method  secures  as  strong  a  frame  as  the  old, 
and  saves  from  30  to  40  per  cent  of  material, 
while  the  plank  frame  is  more  easily  and 
cheaply  erected  than  the  large  timbered  frame 
is.  The  2 -inch  frame  material  can  be  so 
placed  as  to  direction  and  position  that  it  will 
secure  the  maximum  of  strength  with  the  mini- 
mum of  lumber. 


Improved   Frame  291 

The  illustration  (Fig.  110)  shows  one  end  of 
a  67  x  97-ft.  barn,  posts  18  ft.  long,  recently 
erected  at  the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  College. 
A  cross -section  at  one  side  of  the  driving  floor 
is  also  shown  (Fig.  111).  A  cross-section  of  a 
built-up  post  is  seen  in  Fig.  112.  It  will  be 
seen   that  the    building   is    firmly  tied   together, 


Fig.  111.     Cross-section  of  the  frame. 

the  roof  fully  supported,  and  that  no  timbers 
obstruct  the  unloading  of  provender  by  horse 
power.  This  new  method  of  constructing  large 
frames  is  so  little  known  and  the  principles 
involved  are  so  valuable  that  I  append  a  foot 
note  at  the  risk  of  being  misunderstood.* 
Since  long,  large  timbers  have  become  expensive, 

*Shawver  Bros.,  Bellefontaine,  Ohio,  furnish  models  and  bills  of  material  for 
plank  barns  at  a  low  cost. 


292  The   Farmstead 

it  is  probable  that  the  plank  frame  will  become 
as  common  in  the  near  future,  in  barn  build- 
ing, as  the  balloon  frame  is  in  house  building. 

It  is  frequently  convenient  to  place 
horses  or  other  animals  on  the  second 
floor  above  other  animals,  or  above  a 
covered  yard,  in  which  case  a  tight 
floor  may  be  made  as  follows  (Fig. 
Buiit-up  post.  H3):  Lay  an  unmatched,  rough  inch 
floor ;  upon  this  place  strong,  tarred  building- 
paper,  with  joints  well  lapped.  Saw  and 
prepare  the  2 -inch  planks  which  are  to  form 
the  floors.  For  every  four  hundred  square  feet 
of  floor,  procure  one  barrel  of  hard  Trinidad 
asphalt  and  three  gallons  of  gas  tar.  A  large 
iron  kettle  may  be  used  for  heating  and  mixing 
the  material,  which  should  be  in  the  proportion 
of  about  one  to  ten.  With  an  ax  remove  the 
barrel,  and  chop  off  and  place  in  the  kettle 
pieces  of  asphalt  until  it  is  not  much  more 
than  one -half  full,  then  add  the  due  propor- 
tion of  gas  tar.  The  kettle  should  be  placed 
in  a  rude  arch  and  at  a  little  distance  from 
the  building.  By  means  of  a  slow  fire  heat 
the  material.  When  all  is  ready,  dip  the  hot 
mixture  into  a  galvanized  iron  pail  and  pour 
it  in  a  small  stream  on  the  paper,  spreading 
to  the  width  of  the  plank  intended  to  be  laid, 
by   means    of    a    shingle    or   paddle.      Lay   the 


Durable    Upper   Floors 


293 


plank  in  the  hot  material,  being  careful  that 
when  it  is  spiked  down  the  hot  asphalt  does 
not  fly  up  into  the  face.  Then  proceed  to  lay 
other  planks  in  like  manner.  Finally  pour 
some  of  the  material  into  the  cracks  if  there 
should  be  any.* 

Should   the   floor   become    worn   in   time    and 
need    repairing,  even  up   the  surface  by  spread- 


Fig.  113.    Making  a  barn  floor. 

ing  thin  cement  mortar  upon  it,  and  upon  this 
lay  a  second  plank  floor.  The  cement  mortar 
will  assist  in  making  the  floor  water-tight  and 
in  preventing  dry  rot.  Barn  floors  which  have 
become  much  worn  from  driving  over  them  may 
be  treated  in  like  manner.  Where  it  seems 
advisable  to  place  cows  on  the  second  floor,  and 
over  a  manure  cellar,  the  following  plan  may  be 
adopted:  A  tight  floor,  as  in  the  former  case,  is 
built     with    drips    as    shown;     a    small     hole    is 


*A  floor  laid,  as  described,  seventeen  years  ago,  is  still  in  good  repair. 


294  The    Farmstead 

placed  between  each  pair  of  stalls,  through  which 
the  voidings  of  the  animals  may  be  dropped  into 
the  story  below,  the  floor  of  which  is  concreted. 
The  objection  might  be  raised  that  the  manure 
underneath  the  animals  would  be  objectionable; 
but  since  the  floor  of  the  stable  described  is 
tight  when  the  openings  in  the  drip  are  closed, 
and  the  story  below  is  well  lighted  and  venti- 
lated, the   objection  does   not  hold  good. 

As  far  as  possible,  horses  should  stand  with 
their  heads  away  from  the  windows,  as  draughts 
of  air  and  glaring  sunlight  are  trying  to  their 
eyes.  A  few  box  stalls  are  convenient,  .  and 
assist  in  providing  the  two  cubic  feet  of  air 
space  which  should  be  allowed  for  each  pound 
of  live  weight  in  the  horse  barn.  The  stable 
should  be  so  situated  that  the  fumes  of  am- 
monia arising  from  it  cannot  reach  the  harness 
and  carriages,  if  they  are  highly  polished  and 
expensive.  The  horse  stable  may  often  be 
placed  on  the  second  floor  of  the  wing,  as  it 
brings  it  on  a  level  with  the  main  driving  floor 
and  near  to  where  the  wagons  are  likely  to  be 
kept.  The  story  beneath  the  horses  makes  an 
acceptable  covered  yard.  An  office,  which  may 
be  warmed,  and  a  repair  room  should  be  pro- 
vided in  one  corner  of  the  barn  or  in  a  small 
detached    building  near   to    it. 

If  the  farm   is   ample,  and  large  amounts   of 


Cupola   and   Light  295 

hay  and  grain  are  to  be  stored,  instead  of  build- 
ing a  wagon  house,  the  main  barn  might  be 
extended  twenty  feet,  more  or  less,  in  length. 
This  additional  room  may  be  used  for  carriages 
and  light  harness  in  part,  and  in  part  for  the 
storage  of  grain,  meal,  and  the  like.  The  space 
underneath  this  room  would  serve  to  enlarge  the 
cow  stable.  The  place  for  washing  carriages 
might  also  be"  located  on  the  lower  floor,  where 
it  would  serve  for  storing  the  milk  wagon  as 
well,  and  the  space  above  it  could  be  devoted  to 
storing  hay  and  the  like.  Barn  windows  should 
have  small  panes  of  glass,  as  the  cross  bars  of 
the  windows  serve  not  only  to  hold  the  glass  but 
as  fenders  also.  Since  the  glass  in  barn  win- 
dows is  likely  to  be  broken,  the  cost  of  repairs 
is  reduced  to  a  minimum  if  the  panes  are'  small. 

A  cupola,  if  it  is  large  and  well  proportioned, 
may  add  beauty  to  the  barn  and  serve  to  venti- 
late the  mows,  thereby  making  them  cooler  for 
the  workmen  than  they  otherwise  would  be.  It 
may  also  give  opportunity  for  lighting  the  mows 
and  the  floors,  thereby  avoiding  the  necessity  of 
windows  at  the  side  of  the  mows,  where  they  are 
likely  to  be  broken  and  where  they  are  covered 
as  soon  as  the  barn  is  partly  filled. 

Hay  and  grain  contain  20  to  25  per  cent 
of  moisture  when  stored,  and  hence  tend  to 
become    warm.        The    hot,    moist    air,    due    to 


296  The   Farmstead 

this  heating,  ascends  to  the  roof  or  cupola 
and  forms  an  easier  passage  to  the  earth  for 
electrical  discharges  than  the  normal  air  of  the 
building  does.  Thunder  storms  prevail  largely 
about  the  time  barns  are  filled,  hence  they 
should  be  provided  with  good  lightning  rods,  that 
an  easier  and  safer  way  may  be  provided  for  the 
discharges  than  by  the  ascending  warm,  moist 
air  of  the  building.  (See  lightning  rods,  Chap. 
XX.) 

Barns  not  more  than  sixty  feet  wide  may  be 
covered  by  self-supporting  roofs.  The  curb  or 
gambrel  form  is  the  best.  If  the  gables  are 
clipped,  the  cost  will  not  be  materially  increased, 
while  the  structure  will  be  much  improved  in 
looks.  Barns  should  have  strong,  wide,  pro- 
jecting roofs  ;  a  few  extra  rows  of  shingles  at 
the  eaves  will  serve  to  protect  the  outside  cover- 
ing and  the  framework,  and  will  improve  the 
looks  of  the  structure.  Should  it  be  decided  to 
paint  the  barn,  an  ample  projection  will  greatly 
reduce  the  expense  of  keeping  the  paint  present- 
able. Financially  speaking,  it  does  not  pay  to 
paint  the  barn  unless  the  boarding  is  placed 
horizontally.  The  boarding  of  many  unpainted 
barns  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preservation, 
although  they  were  built  more  than  three- 
fourths  of  a  century  ago,  and  had  roofs  projecting 
but    a  few  inches   over  sides   and    ends.      Pro- 


Painting    the   Bam  297 

tected  by  a  roof  projection  of  one  to  two  feet, 
rough,  vertical  barn  boards  may  last  for  one  to 
two  hundred  years  without  paint.  It  may  be 
said,  then,  that  properly  constructed  barns  are 
painted  to  improve  their  looks  and  not  to  pre- 
serve them.  When  the  barns  are  well  removed 
from  the  house  and  virtually  hidden  by  trees, 
they  may  be  left  unpainted,  but  where  they  are 
conspicuous  they  should  be  painted,  that  the 
barn  may  not  mar  the  beauty  of  the  home. 
The  oxide  of  iron,  which  usually  has  a  red  or 
reddish  tinge,  mixed  with  pure  oil,  forms  a  most 
desirable  and  satisfactory  barn  paint.  (See 
Painting   the   House,   Chap.   IX.) 


CHAPTER     XVIII 
REMODELING    OLD   BARNS 


It  is  more  difficult  to  remodel  old  barns 
than  to  build  new  ones.  If  the  attempt  be 
made  to  unite  several  of  the  detached  buildings 
with   the  view  of   making   them   into    one   sym- 


Fig.  114.    The  scattered  buildings  on  a  farm. 

metrical  structure,  much  study  will  be  required. 
The  frames  of  the  old  buildings  are  so  strong 
and  durable  that  they  should  not  be  thrown 
aside  as  useless  until  it  is  certain  that  to 
utilize  them  would  be  more  expensive  than  to 
tear  them  down  and  erect  others  of  new 
material.  Those  massive  oak  sills  and  posts 
and  poplar  swing  -  beams  have  for  me  a 
meaning  and  charm  which  is  lacking  in  the 
light  plank  and  balloon  -frame  constructed  of 
knotty,    wind- shaken     hemlock    or    some    other 

(298) 


Reconstructing    Old   Barns  299 

cheap  wood.  It  needs  no  argument  to  prove 
that  the  numerous  detached  rural  buildings  so 
often  seen  on  the  farm  should  be  remodeled; 
but  how  ?  To  illustrate,  let  the  buildings  shown 
in  Fig.  114,  which  is  from  a  photograph,  be 
taken.  Move  the  four  largest  buildings  to 
some  suitable  site  without  taking  the  frames 
down,  and  out  of  the  timbers  of  the  other 
structures  build  a  basement  story.  It  will  take 
just  one -half  as  much  material  to  board  the 
new  structure  as  the  four  old  ones,  plus  that 
required   to   fill    the    gaps  where    the    old    struc- 


The  profit  of  the  farm  is  absorbed  in  doing  the  chores. 

tures  do  not  join  (see  plan,  Fig.  115).  These 
openings,  eight  and  twelve  feet,  are  all  so 
short  that  the  frames  may  be  made  continuous 
by  means  of  light  pieces  of  material,  which  will 
serve  for  nailing  girts.  When  the  old  buildings 
have  been  united,  some  of  the  inside  posts 
may  be  in  inconvenient  positions.  If  so,  trusses 
appropriately  placed  in  the  mow  story  will  per- 
mit the  removal  of  the  obstructing  post,  as 
shown  in  Figs.  116   and   117. 

If    a    steep    curb    roof,    which    may  be    self- 


300 


The   Farmstead 


supporting  (Fig.  118),  be  adopted,  the  remod- 
eled structure  (Fig.  119)  will  have  more  than 
three  times  the  available  space  that  the  four 
old  structures  had.  It  is  probable  that  there 
would  be  nearly  enough  dimension  stuff  in  the 
seven  other  small  structures  to  construct  the 
basement    story. 


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Fig.  115.     Plan  for  condensing  the  buildings  shown  in  Fig.  114. 


But  it  may  chance  that  no  basement  story 
is  wanted.  If  so,  the  building  might  be  arranged 
as  before,  or  two  more  of  the  small  structures 
might  be  united  to  the  four  larger  ones  which 
it  was  proposed  to  use  in  the  former  case.  The 
barn  would  then  present  a  rather  low  appear- 
ance ;  but  if  the  peaks  of  the  curb  roof  were 
properly    treated,    that    is,    clipped    (Fig.    120), 


Basement    Story    too   Low 


301 


the  structure  would  not  be  void  of  beauty. 
The  rebuilt  structure,  in  any  case,  should  be 
placed  on  continuous  walls,  not  on  stone  piers. 
If  the  posts  of  the  old  structures  are  of  unequal 
length,    the   wall    which    supports    those    having 


Fig.  116.    Trussing  where  a  post  is  removed. 

the  shorter  posts  may  be  built  higher  than  for 
those  having  the  longer  posts,  provided,  how- 
ever, there  is  not  too  great  a  difference  in  the 
length  of  the  posts  of  the  several  small 
structures.  If  there  are  four  or  more  feet 
difference,  it  would  then  be  best  to  splice  the 
short  posts. 


302 


The   Farmstead 


The  first  story 
m  most  of  the  old 
barns  is  entirely 
too  low.  This  may 
be  remedied  by 
building  the  out- 
side supporting 
walls  of  the  pro- 
posed remodeled 
building  two  to 
three  feet  above 
the  level  of  the 
ground.  This  will 
add  as  much  to 
the  lower  story  as 
the  wall  is  above 
the  ground,  less    the 


Fig.  118.     Old  style  of  roof  below, 
and  new  style  curb  roof  above. 


Fig.  117. 
A  trussed  frame,  wbere  a  post  is  removed. 

room  required  for  placing 
the  basement  floor.  If 
treated  in  this  manner  the 
old  inside  sills,  sleepers, 
and  joists  should  be  removed 
a,nd  the  inside  post  sup- 
ported on  stone  or  brick 
piers.  All  this  will  give 
opportunity  to  construct  the 
basement  floors  on  the 
ground,  or  near  to  it, 
and  of  such  shape  and 
material  as  the  new  plans 


Faulty    Stable    Floors 


303 


call  for.  In  this  case  the  floor 
might  well  be  made  of  grout, 
since  'umber  is  expensive,  and  an 
effort  should  be  made  to  build 
permanent  and  durable  structures. 
If  stable  floors  are  placed  well 
up  from  the  ground  and  have 
numerous  cracks  between  the 
planks,  they  are  extremely  un-  ■ 
comfortable  for  the  animals.  | 
They  are,  perhaps,  the  most  un-  ^ 
comfortable  of  all  floors,  as  the  $ 
air  finds  access  to  the  stable  | 
through  the  floor,  and  it  is  nearly  t 
impossible  to  keep  such  stables  * 
comfortable  in  cold  weather.  Such  & 
construction  of  floors  is  also  -s 
wasteful  of  manures,  tends  to  f 
produce  "scratches"  and  other  f 
foot  and  leg  diseases  in  horses,  » 
and  is  unsanitary  and  altogether  ™ 
undesirable.  Z 

Finally,    it    may  be   said    that    | 
when  these  separate  structures  are    I 
treated  in   this   inexpensive   man-    p 
ner  without   added   basement,  the 
available  capacity  of  the  building 
would  be  double  that  of  the  old 
ones,  the  time  of  performing  the 


M      §P- 


^  mlm 


304 


The   Farmstead 


work  in  the  barns  would  be  greatly  diminished, 
and  the  discomfort  of  both  man  and  bea^t  would 
be  ameliorated.  For  the  sake  of  the  farm  boy 
and  for  the  animal  which  he  cares  for,  to  say 
nothing  of  economy,  beauty   and    neatness,  may 


Fig.  120.    Treatment  of  the  gable. 


I  not  ask  those  who  have  these  scattered,  un- 
handy, uncomfortable  barns,  to  study  well  the 
illustrations  given,  which  show  the  old  and  the 
new  arrangement  1 

The   accompanying   illustration   (Fig.    121)    of 


Distributive    System  305 

English  farm  buildings  may  be  of  interest, 
though  this  style  of  barn  and  the  arrangement 
would  not  be  suitable  in  America,  with  its 
rigorous   climate   and   expensive   farm   labor. 


Fig.  121.    English  farmsteading  plan. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

OUTBUILDINGS  AND   ACCESSORIES 

Theke   are  various   farm  buildings  which    are 

better    when    more    or    less  detached    from    the 

main    barn ;    and     some    of  these    may   now  be 
mentioned. 

POULTRY    HOUSES 

Until  recently  comparatively  few  persons 
have  been  financially  successful  in  the  poultry 
business  when  large  numbers  of  fowls  were  kept 
in  close  quarters,  as  the  many  abandoned  dilapi- 
dated yard  fences  and  buildings  testify.  The 
reason  for  such  failures  was  due,  usually,  to 
allowing  too  many  fowls  to  run  in  one  flock. 
It  takes  a  genius  to  see  and  note  the  conditions 
of  each  individual  animal  once  daily  in  a  flock 
of  several  hundred  birds.  Break  the  flock  up 
into  several  small  ones,  each  of  uniform  size 
and  character,  and  the  individual  fowl  may 
then  be  more  easily  noted.  A  single  diseased 
bird,  if  not  removed,  may  serve  to  inoculate  a 
whole  flock  with  some  contagious  disease.  If 
the    flock    contains    but    twenty   to    thirty   indi- 

(306) 


Dividing   the    Flock 


307 


viduals,  the  chance  of  discovering  a  drooping 
bird  is  greatly  increased.  This  indicates 
that  the  poultry  house  or  houses  should  be 
easily  divided  into 'rather  small  compartments. 
Poultry  houses  usually  are  about  12  feet  wide 
and  not  more  than  30  to  40  feet  long.  If  more 
room  is  wanted  than  one  house  furnishes,  another 
structure   should  be   erected   some  little  distance 


*g»,« 


Fig.  122.    A  poultry  establishment  sufficient  for  150  hens 


from  any  other  one.  This  will  give  better 
opportunity  to  arrange  for  large  runs  or  yards 
than  does  one  long,  continuous  building.  I  have 
yet  to  see  a  large  poultry  establishment  furnished 
with  yards  as  large  as  they  should  be,  and  I 
have  seen  but  few  yards  which  were  properly 
or  fully  shaded.  The  runs  should  be  large  and 
relatively  narrow,  and  set  to  fruit  trees.  The 
plum  is  best,  and  may  be  set  the  usual  distance 
apart.      The  trees  should   be  sprayed  and  cared 


308  The   Farmstead 

for  as  in  well  kept  orchards,  since  the  fruit  may- 
chance  to  be  more  profitable  than  the  poultry. 
For  the  health  of  the  fowls  and  the  welfare  of 
the  trees,  clean  culture  of  the  runs  should  be 
adopted.  In  the  case  of  poultry  buildings,  the 
distributive  method  of  construction  should  be 
adopted  rather  than  the  concentrated  one.  If 
the  undertaking  is  begun  with  a  well  matured 
plan,  these  several  small  structures  may  not  be 
unsightly  when  viewed  as  a  whole.  An  illus- 
tration is  given  of  a  modest  poultry  plant  large 
enough  for  150  hens  and  500  chicks,  pro- 
vided, however,  that  most  of  the  chicks  are 
sold  when  from  three  to  six  months  old  (Fig. 
122).  These  structures  are  built  on  grout  foun- 
dation walls  to  exclude  vermin  and  moisture. 
The  floors  are  of  wood,  the  sills  and  plates  2x4 
inches.      The   boarding   is    vertical    and   double, 

with  paper  between 
the  two  boardings. 
The  outside  boards 
44*  are  planed  and  bat- 
^BS^S^Z  ;  ^tened;     the    roof 

Fig.  123.   a  moveable  coop.  boards,   which   are 

laid  close  together,  are  covered  with  paper  and 
then  shingled.  The  windows  provide  for  light 
and,  in  part,  for  ventilation.  These  structures 
are  dry  on  the  inside,  and  the  temperature, 
though  not   always   above  the  freezing  point   in 


Hawks    Circumvented 


309 


cold  weather,  is  comfortable.  The  buildings 
might  be  reduced  in  number  or  in  size,  except 
the  brooder  house,  and  yet  provide  for  the  same 
number  of  birds,  if  movable  coops  for  the  smaller 
chickens  were  provided.  The  illustration  (Fig. 
123)   shows  a  durable,  light,  movable  coop  large 


=^v 


Fig.  124.     A  large  portable  coop. 


enough  for  twenty  half  pound  chicks.  The  coop 
was  designed  for  use  on  the  lawn.  It  is  inex- 
pensive, and  protects  the  chicks  from  all  their 
ordinary  enemies,  both  day  and  night.  It  weighs 
but  75  pounds,  and  can  be  moved  easily  by  a 
child  by  means  of  a  strap  attached  to  one  end. 
When  used  on  the  lawn,  the  coop  should  be 
moved  and  cleaned  at  least  once  daily,  as  fresh 
pasture  for  the  chicks  is  thereby  provided,  injury 
to  the  grass  prevented,  the  lawn  being  benefited 
by  the  excrements.  The  coop  shown  is  4x8  feet 
and  20  inches  high,  unfloored  except  the  covered 


310 


The   Farmstead 


section,  which  has  a  tight  floor,  and  roosts  and 
suitable  wooden  and  screen  doors.  A  brood  of 
chicks  in  such  a  coop  would  form  superior 
facilities   for  nature- study  work. 

When  poultry-raising  is  carried  on  on  a  large 
scale,  the  movable  coops  might  be  built  12x6 
or  16x8  feet  (Fig.  124),  the  latter  the  largest 
size  which  is  easily  movable  without  the  aid   of 

a  horse.  The  corners  of 
the  sills  should  be  mitered 
and  held  together  by  trian- 
gular pieces  (Fig.  125). 
These  coops  will  be  found 
to  be  entirely  satisfactory 
when  used  in  a  pasture  or 
grass  paddock  near  the 
chicken  house.  While  ex- 
perimenting with  them,  it  was  found  that  the 
birds  did  better  when  as  many  as  thirty  or  more 
chicks  were  assigned  to  each  large  coop  than 
when  kept  in  the  large,  grassless   runs. 

The  following  bill  of  particulars  may  be  of 
assistance  in  the  construction  of  a  lawn  chicken- 


Fig.  125. 

Bracing  the  corners 
of  the  frame. 


coop 


The 


Sills  1x4  inches. 

Posts  2x2  inches,  20  inches  long. 
Braces  lxl  inch. 
Plates  1x2  inches. 
covered    part    of   the   coop    is   made   of 


A   Healthy   Forest   Shelter  311 

%-inch  matched  and  beaded  hard  pine  ;  the 
floor  of  any  light  wood  %-inch  or  %-inch, 
matched,  but  not  beaded. 

PIGGERIES 

A  piggery  of  any  considerable  size  is  the 
most  difficult  to  plan  of  all  farm  structures. 
One  of  two  methods  may  be  adopted  in  the 
East  with  fairly  satisfactory  results.  If  there 
are  woods  and  some  pasture  land  adjoining  or 
near  to  the  barns,  cheap  separate  pens  (Fig. 
126),  one  for  each  brood  animal,  may  be  built 
near  the  border  of  the  wood  or  on  the  edge 
of  it.     There  need  be  little  more  than  a  slanting 


..JL.lt' 


M-t^t 


Fig.  126.    Temporary  shelter  for  a  brood  sow. 

roof,  with  the  triangular  corners  at  the  ends 
boarded  to  keep  out  the  wind.  The  earth 
forms  a  most  comfortable  bed  if  kept  dry  and 
covered  thinly  with  leaves  or  straw.  Of  course, 
these   pens   are   not  suitable   for   brood   animals 


312  The   Farmstead 

farrowing  during  the  winter  months.  Where 
but  one  litter  of  pigs  is  raised  annually,  there 
is  little  difficulty ;  if  two  litters  a  year  be 
desired,  the  first  one  should  be  farrowed  in 
April  or  May,  and  the  other  in  September  or 
October.  In  either  case  these  cheap  detached 
pens  may  be  not  only  satisfactory,  but  they  will 
serve  to  fit  into  a  system  of  pig- raising  which 
may  be  carried  on  at  the  minimum  of  labor 
and  expense  and  supplementary  foods.  By 
means  of  a  tank  or  barrel  mounted  on  wheels 
the  animals  may  be  fed,  either  once  or  twice 
daily,  in  large  troughs  placed  in  the  pasture. 
This  system  presupposes  ample  areas  of  grass 
and  woodland,  which  should  furnish  not  only 
a  healthful  run  for  the  animals  but  much  food 
for  them. 

Usually  the  mistake  is  made  of  confining 
pigs  in  small  pens,  which  may  or  may  not  have 
attached  to  them  small  yards  or  runs.  These 
are  always  devoid  of  grass,  and  offensively 
dusty  and  filthy  a  part  of  the  year,  and  an 
impassable  mud  hole  at  other  times.  Wherever 
circumstances  will  permit,  there  should  be  al- 
lotted to  each  brood  animal  and  her  offspring 
one -fourth  acre  of  land.  Two  small  fields  might 
be  provided,  one  of  which  would  .  serve  for  pas- 
ture ground  [for  all  the  animals,  while  the  other 
would    be    used    for    raising    crops    for    soiling 


Fairly    Good   Pen 


313 


the  pigs  or  for  other  purposes.  When  the  lot 
became  fertilized  from  the  droppings  of  the 
animals  and  the  grass  injured,  it  should  be 
plowed,  cropped  and  seeded,  the  animals  being 
pastured  meantime  in  the  other  field. 

Cheap    but     somewhat    more    elaborate    pens 
are    shown    in   Fig.    127.      These    may  be    built 


Fig.  127.     Pig  pens.     At  the  left  is  shown  a  vertical  section,  with  the  roof 
over  the  rear.     Yard  on  the  right. 

in  detached  pairs,  or  several  pens  may  be 
placed  -in  juxtaposition.  Each  pen,  including 
the  small  outside  yard  and  feeding  floor,  both 
unroofed,  is  16  x  16  feet.  The  part  roofed  is 
8x8  feet.  After  the  pigs  have  attained  some 
size,  all  doors  are  opened  and  the  entire  herd 
may  be  grazed  in  one  field. 

A  better  but  more  expensive  piggery,  Figs. 
128  and  129,  shows  five  pens,  though  the  plan 
lends  itself  to  a  greater  or  lesser  number.     The 


314 


The   Farmstead 


area  devoted  to  each  bed  is  8  x  8  feet.  The 
driveway,  which  also  serves  for  temporary 
storage  of  manures,  is   8  feet  wide   and  extends 

lengthwise    through    the 


j^szmai 


*L 


^^S^ZZEfc£5  ^£g 


o 


^KSBBSfflg^ 


building.      The    floor    of 
tne   driveway  should   be 
about     one     foot     lower 
than  the  feeding 
and    sleeping 
floors  at  the  mid- 
dle, and  should 
be  paved  or  as- 
phalted.     (See 
cross     section, 
Fig.  129.)     The 
feeding  floor  upon  which 
the  troughs  rest  may  be 
4   or   5    feet    long,     and 

Fig.  128.    A  more  elaborate  piggery.        should     deSCend      tOWai'dS 

the  driving  floor.  Ordinary  gates  are  hung  to 
the  posts  which  serve,  with  the  boarding,  to 
separate  the  pens.  These  gates  are  fastened  at 
the  other  end  of  the  posts  which  separate  the 
feeding  compartments.  When  so  fastened  each 
brood  animal  has  a  bedroom  8  x  8,  a  receptacle 
for  manure  8x8,  and  a  feeding  floor  4x8  feet. 
This  arrangement  presupposes  that  most  of  the 
foods  will  be  fed  in  the  troughs.  If,  when  the 
animals  are  first   placed  in  the  pens,   the   paved 


An   Expensive,    Good   Piggery 


315 


portion  of  the  floor  be  soiled  with  dirt  and  water, 
the  excreta  thereafter'  will  be  deposited  by  the 
animals  on  this  floor  and  not  in  the  bedroom. 
The  pig  is  really  a  cleanly  animal  if  it  is  given 
a  few  timely  sensible  hints.  When  it  is  desired 
to  remove  the  manure  the  gates  are  all  swung 
to  the  right  or  left,  as  most  convenient,  and 
they  then  serve  to  fasten  all  of  the  animals  in 
the  bed  compartments,  and  the  driveway  is  left 
unobstructed.  One  of  the  outside  openings  to 
the  driveway  should  also  be  provided  with  a 
gate  to  swing  in,  as  well  as  an  ordinary  door  to 
swing  out.     These  pens  may  all  be  thrown  open 


Fig.  129.    Elevation  of  the  house  shown  in  Fig.  128. 

in   the    summer   when   it    is    desired   to   pasture 
the    herd. 

The  illustration  shows  a  small  wing  attached 
which  may  serve  many  useful  purposes.  A 
matched  upper  floor  and  abundant  light  and 
ventilation  should  be  provided.      The  roof  story 


316  The   Farmstead 

may  be  used  for  housing  some  corn  in  the  ear 
and  straw  for  bedding.  In  cold  weather  the 
upper  floor  should  have  some  straw  left  on  it  to 
promote  warmth  in  the  pens  below. 

The  object  in  discussing  these  three  styles  of 
piggeries  has  been  to  emphasize  cleanliness, 
economy  of  labor  in  caring  for  the  animals,  the 
comfort  of  the  animals,  prevention  of  wanton 
waste  of  manure,  and  economy  in  the  produc- 
tion of  healthy  swine  in  piggeries  so  arranged 
that  the  animals  may  be  conveniently  grazed 
during  the  summer,  and  kept  reasonably  clean 
and    comfortable   in   winter. 


THE   SILO 

The  Egyptians,  the  Romans,  and  the  Ameri- 
can Indians  all  stored  grain  in  pits  or  silos 
which  were  air-tight,  or  as  nearly  so  as  large 
rude  structures  could  be  made.  The  custom  of 
using  silos  for  storing  grain  in  Spain  and  France 
never  became  common,  though  several  attempts 
were  made  to  preserve  large  quantities  of  grain 
for  several  years,  that  the  overproduction  of  one 
year  might  be  kept  until  there  were  deficient 
harvests. 

The  subject  of  ensilaging  green  "roughage" 
material  attracted  attention  in  the  United  States 
soon    after    1870.      As    early    as    1875,    Doctor 


A    Study   of  the    Silo  317 

Manly  Miles,  then  connected  with  the  Illinois 
Industrial  University,  was  fairly  successful  in 
preserving  the  green  tops  of  broom  corn  in  an 
earthen  silo^  Interest  in  the  subject  of  preserv- 
ing green  material  in  silos  was  widely  aroused 
in  America  by  the  appearance  of  a  book  on 
ensilage,  translated  in  1878-9.  The  book  was 
published  in  France  in  1877,  by  M.  Auguste 
Goffart. 

When  the.  practice  of  ensilaging  green  ma- 
terial for  feeding  animals  was  first  introduced 
into  the  United  States  there  was  much  discus- 
sion as  to  the  construction  of  silos.  Many 
advocated  building  them  of  stones,  brick,  or 
grout,  though  some  were  built  of  wood.  As  a 
rule,  they  were  built  either  square  or  in  the 
form  of  a  parallelogram,  in  a  few  cases  octag- 
onal. Experience  soon  showed  that  the  silage 
was  preserved  better  in  the  wooden  silo  than  in 
those  constructed  of  other  material.  For  this 
reason,  and  because  the  wooden  silo  is  most 
cheaply  constructed,  wood  is  now  in  universal 
use  for  building  them. 

At  first  heavy  frames  were  erected  which 
were  covered  with  two,  three,  and  even  four 
thicknesses  of  boards.  Sometimes  building 
paper  was  placed  between  the  inner  and  outer 
boards.  The  octagon  and  the  round  silo  soon 
supplanted    those    having    square   corners.      As 


318  The   Farmstead 

built,  too  often  the  walls  could  not  be  or  were 
not  fully  ventilated.  The  thick  walls  remained 
more  or  less  damp  throughout  the  entire  year  or, 
if  dried  out  when  empty,  lack  of  ventilation 
superinduced  dry  rot.  Cases  were  not  infrequent 
where  silos  were  found  to  be  practically  useless 
without  rebuilding  in  four  or  five  years.  Where 
everything  was  at  its  best,  the  frequent  shrink- 
ing and  swelling  of  the  wood  resulted  finally  in 
so  destroying  its  elasticity  that  it  did  not  return 
to  its  normal  size  when  the  silo  was  refilled. 
Since  there  was  no  means  of  tightening  these 
silos  the  air  soon  entered  them  freely,  which 
resulted  in  serious  loss  of  fodder.  By  reason  of 
the  costliness  and  defects  of  stone  and  grout 
silos,  and  the  failure  in  many  cases  of  square- 
cornered  wooden  ones  to  preserve  the  material 
satisfactorily,  and  because  of  their  perishable 
nature,  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
shape  and  material    of    silos. 

From  all  the  evidence  attainable,  the  conclu- 
sion is  reached  that  the  round,  tall,  stave  silo  is 
best.  It  is  simple  in  construction,  inexpensive 
as  compared  with  most  other  kinds,  and  rea- 
sonably durable.  The  fact  that  it  dries  out  fully 
during  the  summer,  thereby  destroying  all  germs 
of  decay,  coupled  with  the  other  fact  that  at  any 
time  it  can  be  made  tight  by  means  of  the 
hoops  which  serve  to  hold  the  staves  in  place, 


A    Good   Poor   Man's   Silo 


319 


makes  the  round,  stave  silo  par  excellent.  The 
staves  should  be  two  inches  thick  and  from  four 
to  six  inches  wide,  bevelled  to  suit  the  size  of 
the  structure.     The  hoops  are  usually  of  round 


Fig.  130.    The  stave  silo. 

galvanized  iron  one -half  inch  in  diameter. 
They  are  placed  about  three  feet  apart,  the 
spaces  between  the  hoops  being  wider  near  the 
top  than  they  are  near  the  bottom.  The  hoops 
are   made   in   sections   of    variable   lengths;   the 


320  The   Farmstead 

ends  of  each  section  are  furnished  with  lugs, 
that  the  hoop  may  be  shortened  and  the  silo 
tightened  with  ease.  The  illustration  (Fig.  130) 
shows  an  emergency  silo  built  of  rough  green 
hemlock  plank  unbevelled,  hooped  with  "Ameri- 
can woven  wire  fence."  It  is  24  feet  high,  12 
feet  in  diameter,  cost  $35,  and  has  a  nominal 
capacity  of  50  tons.  A  flat  board  roof  serves 
to  keep  out  the  snow  and  most  of  the,  rain.  It 
is  placed  in  the  open  to  test  its  durability.  It 
has  been  in  use  one  year,  and  so  far  it  is 
entirely  satisfactory,  though  the  staves  would  be 
better  if  they  had  been  beveled. 

How  long  will  this  inexpensive  silo  last  ? 
That  remains  to  be  determined.  Judging  from 
other  silos  of  similar  construction  which  were 
erected  several  years  ago,  I  judge  it  will  last  15 
or  20  years  with  slight  repairs.  When  left  thus 
exposed,  will  the  silage  freeze  during  the  winter? 
In  extremely  cold  weather  in  central  New  York, 
when  the  thermometer  drops  to  10°  or  15°  below 
zero,  the  material  at  the  top  will  freeze.  If 
straw  be  spread  over  the  silage  to  the  depth  of 
a  few  inches,  it  will  prevent  the  escape  of  heat 
and  freezing.  A  portion  of  the  straw  covering 
is  thrown  back  out  of  the  way,  the  silage  wanted 
removed,  and  the  covering  returned.  Such  pre- 
caution is  only  necessary  during  a  few  of  the 
coldest  days. 


CHAPTER    XX 

PROTECTION  FROM   LIGHTNING 

A  flash  of  lightning  is  one  of  the  most 
feared  of  nature's  manifestations  of  power  ; 
and  yet  by  the  use  of  proper  precautions  its 
ability  to  injure  persons  and  property  can  be 
lessened  greatly.  Speculations  as  to  the  nature 
of  lightning  were  vague  until  Benjamin  Franklin 
boldly  sent  a  kite  into  the  teeth  of  a  storm 
and  tapped  the  accumulated  electricity  in  the 
cloud  to  charge  one  of  his  storage  jars.  He 
connected  the  cloud  with  his  jar  by  a  wire 
made  of  a  material  which  he  knew  would 
conduct  the  electrical  charge,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  took  the  precaution  not  to  hold  the 
end  of  this  wire  himself.  He  introduced  be- 
tween the  end  of  the  wire  and  his  hand  a 
piece  of  silk  cord,  which  is  a  non-conductor  of 
electricity.  Had  he  taken  hold  of  the  end  of 
the  wire,  the  charge  would  have  passed  through 
him  with  probably  fatal   results. 

What  is  lightning  ?  One  naturally  inquires 
for  the  reason  of  this  storage  of  electrical 
energy  in   the   clouds.      The   explanation   is   not 

U  (321) 


322  The   Farmstead 

forthcoming — at  least  there  is  none  which  is 
entirely  satisfactory  —  but  the  facts  are  well 
known.  The  mass  of  water -vapor  which  forms 
the  clouds  becomes  electrically  charged  just  as  a 
rubber  comb  does  when  rubbed  on  the  hair  on 
a  dry  day,  or  as  an  ebonite  ruler  does  when 
rubbed  on  a  cat- skin.  Perhaps  by  contact  with 
the  air,  which  is  in  motion,  the  particles  of 
water  become  charged,  and  by  the  union  of 
multitudes  of  these  the  clouds  are  charged  to  a 
tremendous  pressure.  Lightning  can  be  pro- 
duced artificially  on  a  small  scale  by  means  of 
electric  machines,  and  the  results  of  study  of 
these  artificial  discharges  have  been  to  show  the 
following  facts  :  The  air  is  not  a  conductor 
of  electricity,  but  when  the  electrical  pres- 
sure between  two  points  becomes  sufficiently 
great  the  electric  charge  jumps  suddenly  be- 
tween the  two  points  at  which  the  pressure 
exists.  It  punctures  a  hole  for  itself  through 
the  air.  Lightning  is  the  result.  This  dis- 
charge is  very  violent,  and  it  is  accompanied 
by  a  strong  smell  of  ozone,  which  is  only  very 
strong  oxygen.  If  one  were  to  examine  the 
points  of  the  electric  machine  between  which 
the  discharge  took  place,  they  might  be  found 
either  hot  or  cold,  depending  upon  their  size 
and  the  material  of  which  they  were  made. 
Some     materials    offer    more    resistance    to    the 


Peculiarities    of    Discharges  323 

passage  of  the  electric  charge  than  others,  and 
when  a  considerable  resistance  is  offered,  heat 
is  produced  in  appreciable  amounts  at  the 
places  at  which  the  resistance  is  met.  The 
application  of  this  principle  will  be  seen  when 
the    effects    of    real   lightning   are    considered. 

In    Figs.  131,  132,  and  133    are  shown   light- 
ning   flashes    taken    by    Mr.  W.    N.   Jennings.* 


Fig.  131.    Horizontal  discharge  of  lightning. 

These  flashes  are  so  soon  over  that  without 
the  aid  of  the  sensitive  photographic  plate  it 
would  be  impossible  to  study  them.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  the  path  of  the  charge  is  not 
straight,  but  quite  irregular  ;  this  path  being 
that  in  which  there  is  the  least  resistance  to 
the  passage  of  the  electricity.  One  strange 
phenomenon  which  is  brought  out  clearly  in  the 
pictures    is    that    the    discharge    very   frequently 

*These  three  pictures  are  drawn,  by  permission,  from   photographic   illus- 
trations by  Mr.  Jennings  in  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  vol.  133  (1892). 


324 


The  Farmstead 


divides  into  several  branches.  This  is  because 
it  finds  easy  paths  in  several  directions  and 
divides  into  smaller  discharges,  thus  finally 
disappearing. 

Protection  from  lightning. 
—  Having  noticed  briefly 
something  of  the  nature  of 
lightning,  the  next  point  to 
be  considered  is  its  control, 
so  that  the  dangerous  effects 
of  a  sudden  discharge  may 
be  avoided.  It  has  long 
been  known  that  by  repeat- 
ing Franklin's  experiment 
and  connecting  the  clouds 
with  the  earth,  dangerous 
flashes  of  lightning  can  be  avoided  to  some 
extent ;  and  this  fact  has  given  rise  to  much 
swindling  on  the  part  of  the  "lightning-rod 
man,'7  who  has  frequently  imposed  on  the  people 
through  their  fear  of  the  results  of  lightning 
bolts.  Any  person  of  average  intelligence,  with 
the  knowledge  of  a  few  simple  principles,  can 
put  up  a  rod  himself  for  the  protection  of  his 
barn  or  dwelling  at  a  very  reasonable  expense. 


Fig.  132. 
Meandering  discharge. 


METAL   ROOFS 


It   has  been  noticed  that   metal    roofs  protect 
buildings  even  when  no  lightning  rods  are  used, 


Harmless    Discharge 


325 


especially  if  there  are  tin  or  iron  water  pipes 
running  to  the  ground.  Even  steam  and  gas 
pipes  are  good  if  connected  with  the  roof. 
Tin  and  copper  roofs  are  not  so  common  in 
the  country  as  in  the  city,  and  this  is  one  of 
the  many  reasons  why  city  houses  are  less 
frequently  struck  by  lightning  than  country 
ones.  Copper  roofs  are  not  used  now  as  they 
once  were  on  account  of  the  great  expense; 
but  from  the  electrical  standpoint  they  are  an 
excellent  protection  to  a  house  in  a  thunder 
storm.  The  writer  has 
noticed  in  a  room  in  a 
city  house,  in  which 
steam  heat  is  used,  that 
the  lightning  will  come 
in  and  down  on  the 
steam  pipes  without 
doing  any  harm.  If 
one  will  go  into  a  tele- 
graph station  during  a 
storm  he  will  frequently 
notice  the  discharges  of 
lightning  which  take 
place  through  devices 
provided  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  this  without  the  least  fire  risk. 
This  is  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that,  if 
properly    provided   for,    the    dangerous    element 


Fig.  133.    Tree-form  discharge. 


326  The    Farmstead 

can  be  largely   eliminated  from   a  lightning  dis- 
charge. 

PROTECTING     WOODEN     ROOFS 

If  a  metal  roof  is  out  of  the  question,  the 
protection  of  the  wooden  roof  must  be  provi- 
ded for.  Very  little  attention  has  been  paid  in 
this  country  to  the  proper  erection  and  main- 
tenance of  lightning  rods.  It  is  not  sufficient 
to  put  up  a  point  in  an  out-of-the-way  place, 
and  with  a  careless  ground  connection,  and  then 
expect  immunity  from  lightning.  The  lightning 
rod  will  protect  a  wooden -roofed  building  if  it 
is  properly  installed ;  and  in  order  that  this 
simple  but  important  piece  of  apparatus  be 
thoroughly  understood  it  will  now  be  considered 
in   detail. 

In  the  first  place,  it  should  be  noted  that 
there  are  two  forms  of  electric  discharge  or 
lightning  which  are  provided  for  in  equipping  a 
building  with  lightning  protection :  the  brush 
discharge  and  the  disruptive  discharge.  The 
brush  -  form  is  so  named  because  the  fine 
streamers  of  sparks  which  are  emitted  have 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  brush.  This  dis- 
charge is  harmless,  and  one  of  the  important 
functions  of  the  bunch  of  points  on  the  upper 
end  of  the  lightning  rod  is  to  quietly  take  from 
the   surrounding  atmosphere  the  electricity  there 


Systems    of   Eodding  327 

generated,  and  thus  prevent  its  accumulation  to 
a  dangerous  extent.  Very  high  towers,  such  as 
steel  windmills,  high  trees,  and  steeples  do  the 
community  a  good  service  in  this  respect.  But 
sometimes  the  discharges  cannot  be  dissipated 
through  the  brush  form,  but  reach  a  high  pres- 
sure, and  exhibit  themselves  with  great  violence, 
producing  the  booming  and  crackling  noise  of 
thunder.  This  is  the  second  form;  and  although 
the  points  may  be  useful  in  this  case  too,  yet  if 
they  are  too  far  apart  the  discharge  may  not 
seek  them,  but  may  take  a  shorter  path  through 
the  moist  hay  from  which  the  hot,  damp  air  is 
rising  to  the  roof  and  forming  another  lightning 
conductor.  Protection  from  this  can  be  partly 
provided  by  the  use  of  several  points,  not  over 
forty  feet  apart;  but  in  cases  in  which  lightning 
is  very  violent  and  frequent,  the  conductor 
should  be  run  all  around  the  edges  of  the  roof, 
and  in  several   places    to   the  ground. 

An  experiment  made  by  a  noted  electrician 
some  years  ago  will  illustrate  this  point:  A 
frame  was  made  of  iron  wire  in  the  shape  of  a 
barn,  the  wire  representing  the  edges  of  the 
walls  and  roof.  The  frame  was  connected  to 
the  ground,  or  "grounded,"  as  the  electricians  say, 
and  then  artificial  lightning  was  allowed  to  play 
upon  it  from  a  distance  of  a  foot  or  more  above. 
This  gave  a  model  about   in   proportion   to   the 


328  The   Farmstead 

real  barn  and  actual  lightning.  All  the  dis- 
charge followed  the  wire  frame,  and  did  not 
ignite  a  dummy  of  gun-cotton  which  was  placed 
inside.  The  instant  that  the  metal  barn  frame 
was  removed  the  dummy  was  struck  and  burned 
violently.  One  can  draw  his  own  conclusions 
from  an    experiment    of   this    sort. 

A  barn  properly  fitted  with  lightning  rods  is 
shown  in  Fig.  134.  The  location  of  the  points 
is  such  that  there  is  not  more  than  forty  feet 
between  two  adjacent  ones.  The  rod  projects 
about  six  feet  above  the  roof,  and  these  projec- 
tions are  all  connected  by  means  of  rod  of  the 
same  form  as  the  vertical  conductors.  Sharp 
turns  are  avoided  in  erecting  the  conductor,  for 
an  electric  discharge  would  prefer  to  go  straight 
through  the  air  rather  than  turn  a  corner. 

It  will  now  be  necessary  to  go  into  some 
practical  details  of  the  construction  of  lightning 
rods,  and  the  suggestions  that  will  be  made 
have  been  included  here  because  good  points  or 
rods  may  not  always  be  readily  obtainable. 
Their  manufacture  is  easy  and  can  be  performed 
with  the  limited  facilities  of  a  small  village.  If 
the  raw  materials  have  to  be  bought  at  a  dis- 
tance, this  can  be  easily  done  by  correspondence. 

Parts  of  the  system:  The  equipment  will  con- 
sist of  three  parts — the  conductor  and  its  sup- 
port, the  points,  and  the   ground  connection. 


Conductivity    and    Cost 


329 


The  conductor,  or  so-called  "rod,"  first  de- 
mands attention.  All  metals  conduct  electricity 
to  some  extent,  but  certain  ones  are  very  much 
better  than  others.  For  example,  lead,  plati- 
num, brass,  and  iron  are  poor  conductors,  which 


Fig.  134.    Proper  adjustment  of  lightning  rods  on  a  barn. 

is  equivalent  to  saying  that  they  heat  up  readily 
on  the  passage  of  an  electric  current.  On  the 
other  hand,  silver,  copper,  and  aluminum  are 
good  conductors.  In  making  a  lightning  rod, 
the  best  all-round  conductor  should  be  used, 
when  cost  and  conductivity  are  the  basis  for  the 
selection.  As  an  example,  take  the  metals  iron, 
copper,  and  aluminum  for  comparison.  Iron  is 
cheapest  in  price  per  pound,  but  its  electrical 
conductivity  is  small,  while  copper,  though  more 


330  The    Farmstead 

expensive,  has  so  much  more  conductivity  that 
to  get  rid  of  a  certain  charge  of  electricity 
requires  much  less  of  it.  So  with  aluminum, 
which  has  slightly  less  conductivity  and  which 
costs  more  than  copper,  but  which  is  so  light 
that  a  rod  having  the  same  conducting  ability 
when  made  of  this  metal  actually  costs  less  than 
one  made  of  copper,  and  the  price  of  aluminum 
is  constantly  lessening,  while  that  of  copper  can- 
not fall  much  on  account  of  the  limited  supply. 
To  compare  actual  figures,  call  the  conductivity 
of  copper  100,  then  that  of  steel  or  iron  will  be 
about  18,  and  that  of  aluminum  about  60.  As 
to  relative  weights,  copper  weighs  about  550 
pounds  per  cubic  foot,  iron  or  steel  480,  and 
aluminum  160.  As  the  prices  of  these  ma- 
terials are  constantly  varying,  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  say  at  this  time  what  the  relative 
costs  would  be  at  any  other  time;  but  it  can  be 
said  that  on  the  score  of  cost  there  is  little 
choice  among  them.  For  a  number  of  reasons 
aside  from  cost,  copper  is  at  present  the  best 
material,  and  these  reasons  are:  That  it  is 
smaller  than  the  others  for  a  given  conducting 
ability,  and  thus  is  more  sightly ;  that  it  is 
easier  to  support  on  account  of  this  small  size, 
and  that  it  can  be  readily  soldered  to  the 
ground  plate,  which  will  be  considered  later. 
In  addition    to   the   material    of   the   lightning 


Insulators 


331 


rod,  its  form  -is  a  matter  of  considerable  im- 
portance. The  cable  forms  have  been  used 
extensively  and  successfully,  but  the  ribbon  or 
flat  form  is  better  on  account  of  the  smaller  cost, 
and  because  there  is  a  greater  area  exposed  for 
the  dissipation  of  the  heat  generated  by  the 
lightning  in  passing  from  the  points  to  the 
ground.  A  rectangular  section  of  three-quarters 
by  one -eighth  of  an  inch  is  recommended. 

In  supporting  the  conductor  from  the  wall  or 
roof,  it  should  be  separated  or  "in- 
sulated" from  these  surfaces.  There 
is  a  slight  chance  that  the  lightning 
might  leave  the  conductor  if  the  build- 
ing were  wet.  A  more  important 
reason  for  the  use  of  the  insulator 
is  that  the  heat  which  is  generated 
on  the  surface  of  the  rod  when  a 
heavy  discharge  occurs  will  not  be 
able,  if  supported  away  from  the 
wall,  to  heat  up  any  inflammable  ma- 
terial near  it.  Fig.  135  shows  a 
method  of  support  in  which  one  of 
the  standard  insulators  used  in  run- 
ning electric  light  and  other  wires  is 
employed.  These  insulators, 
are  made  of  porcelain  and  iron,  can  be 
screwed  into  the  wood  or  into  a  plug  driven 
into  the  joints  between  the  stones  very  readily. 


Fig.  135. 
which  Supporting  a  rod. 


332  The    Farmstead 

The  insulator  shown  is  manufactured  by  the 
General  Electric  Company,  of  Schenectady,  New 
York,  and  similar  ones  are  made  by  other  man- 
ufacturers of  electrical  materials. 

In  order  to  attract  the  discharge,  the  rods 
must  project  some  distance  above  the  roof, 
about  6  feet  being  the  proper  height.  This 
projection  must  be  supported,  and  there  are  two 
ways  to  do  this.  The  first  is  to  screw  or  nail 
a  piece  of  timber  to  the  side  of  the  building, 
projecting  about  5  feet  above  the  roof.  Two 
insulators  on  this  will  provide  the  necessary 
support  for  the  rod.  As  this  might  be  con- 
sidered unsightly  in  some  places,  a  neater  but 
more  expensive  method  is  to  use  a  piece  of 
%-inch  copper,  brass  or  iron  rod  for  the  upper 
9  or  10  feet  of  the  rod.  This  can  be  easily  joined 
and  soldered  to  the  copper  ribbon  and  is  strong 
enough  to  support  itself  in  any  wind.  A  brace 
from  the  vertical  to  the  horizontal  rod  will  pro- 
vide additional  support  if  desired,  and  will  give 
a  more  substantial  appearance.  At  the  point  at 
which  the  horizontal  rod  passes  through  a  tim- 
ber support,  in  case  such  plan  is  used,  a  hole 
1%  inches  should  be  bored  in  the  timber  to  avoid 
any  risk  of  its  being  burned.  In  joining  the 
horizontal  to  the  vertical  rod,  the  former  should 
be  bent  up  at  right  angles  for  an  inch,  and  the 
surfaces  should  then  be  well  cleaned  and  soldered. 


Efficient   Points 


333 


The  points  >  for  attracting  the  discharge 
should  be  made  very  carefully,  and  with  a  view 
to  accommodating  the  brush  discharge  par- 
ticularly. As  a  rule,  the  more 
points  in  the  bunch  at  the  head 
of  the  rod  the  better  will  the 
brush  discharge  be  attracted  ; 
and  for  the  same  reason  these 
points  should  be  sharp  and 
bright.  These  facts  have  been 
determined  by  experiment,  from 
which  it  has  been  learned  that 
the  discharge  is  quieter  and  at 
a  lower  pressure  from  sharp, 
bright  terminals  than  from  others. 
Aluminum  wire  fulfils  the  re- 
quirements for  the  points  better 
than  any  other  metal  of  reason- 
able cost.  Unfortunately  this 
metal  is  difficult  to  solder,  but 
if  the  directions  here  given  are 
carefully  followed  there  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  producing  a  good  Fig.  136.   3fficient  point 

bunch.  for  a  lightning  rod. 

The  sketch  (Fig.  136)  shows  the  general  con- 
struction. In  the  end  of  a  block  of  copper  of 
the  dimensions  shown,  drill  a  hole  %  of  an  inch 
in  diameter  and  1  inch  deep.  Cut  off  a  number 
of  pieces  of  aluminum  wire,  of  about  1-16  of  an 


334  The   Farmstead 

inch  in  diameter,  about  4  inches  long.  This 
wire  can  be  obtained  from  the  Pittsburg  Re- 
duction Company,  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 
These  wires  must  then  be  filed  to  sharp  points 
on  one  end,  the  opposite  ends  being  roughened 
with  coarse  sandpaper.  Push  as  many  of  the 
wires  into  the  hole  in  the  block  as  it  will  hold 
and  bend  the  points  back  so  as  to  form  a 
brush.  Now  heat  some  solder  in  a  ladle  and 
pour  in  around  the  lower  ends  of  the  aluminum 
wires,  having  first  taken  the  precaution  to  heat 
the  copper  block  so  that  the  solder  will  flow 
well.  The  conductor  rod  is  then  soldered  into 
a  slot  filed  in  the  lower  end  of  the  block,  and 
the  bunch  of   points    is    complete. 

The  ground  connection  is  the  most  important 
part  of  the  whole  equipment.  With  poor  ground 
connections,  the  rods  become  a  menace  to  a 
building  rather  than  a  protection.  Examples 
could  be  cited  where  buildings  were  actually 
struck  and  destroyed,  even  though  "  apparently 
properly  rodded."  In  one  case  the  wire  en- 
tered but  two  inches  into  dry  soil,  while  in 
another  the  lower  end  was  buried  in  concrete. 
It  is  absolutely  essential  that  the  lower  end 
of  the  rod  be  connected  with  moist  earth  in 
some  way,  as  this  is  the  only  method  which 
will  insure  safety.  If  there  are  water  pipes 
in  the   building,  they  should  be   attached  to  the 


Ground  Connections  335 

rod  in  the  basement  in  addition  to  the  main 
ground   connection. 

As  the  charge  is  to  be  dissipated  in  the  earth, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  expose  a  considerable 
area  of  metal  under  ground.  If  a  spring  is 
near,  the  rod  should  be  run  to  the  vicinity 
of  the  spring  and  there  soldered  to  the  ground 
plate,  which  should  be  below  the  level  of  the 
surface  of  the  spring.  Moist  soil  is  the  only 
kind  which  will  conduct  electricity,  hence  the 
insistence  on  a  moist  place  for  the  terminal  of 
the  rod.  In  case  the  plate  must  be  planted 
some  distance  from  water,  either  it  must  go 
quite  deep  or  it  may  be  placed  in  a  barrel  of 
charcoal  or  coke  buried  under  the  surface. 
These  materials  will  hold  whatever  water  they 
receive,  and  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  wet  the 
soil  above  such  a  terminal  from  time  to  time. 
The  plate  itself  should  be  of  copper  and  of  an 
area  of  at  least  25  square  feet,  including  both 
sides.  An  old  copper  boiler,  flattened  out,  makes 
a  cheap    and    effective    ground   plate. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  many  buildings  have 
been  saved  from  destruction  by  means  of  prop- 
erly installed  lightning  rods,  and  it  is  plain 
that  they  are  not  difficult  nor  expensive  to 
install. 


CHAPTER    XXI 

THE   FIELDS 

While  it  is  the  primary  object  of  this  book 
to  discuss  the  lay-out  of  buildings  and  their 
accessories,  it  would  be  incomplete  if  some- 
thing were  not  said  of  the  general  plan  of  the 
fields  themselves. 

FENCES 

Some  ten  years  since,  someone  estimated  that 
for  every  dollar's  worth  of  live  stock  kept  in 
New  York  another  dollar  was  expended  in  fences 
to  restrain  it.  It  is  probable  that  this  esti- 
mate is  below  rather  than  above  the  facts.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  the  first  cost  of  fences  and  their 
maintenance  is  a  serious  draft  on  the  resources 
of  the  farmer. 

In  the  pioneer  days,  when  even  the  best  of 
fencing  material  was  so  abundant  that  it  was 
burned  to  clear  the  land,  there  was  great  temp- 
tation to  split  the  tender  logs  into  great  rails 
and  construct  fences  with  them..  Each  winter 
a  few  acres  of  land  were  cleared  and  each  year's 
clearing  was  surrounded  by  a  great  ten -rail  fence, 

(336) 


Too  Many  Fences  337 

which  served  .  to  discourage  some  of  the  larger 
wild  animals  from  destroying  the  crops.  It  is 
easily  seen  why  our  ancestors  in  the  wooded  dis- 
tricts fenced  the  farm  into  small  fields.  In  some 
cases  the  surface  stones  were  so  numerous  on 
the  land  that  the  larger  ones  had  to  be  re- 
moved to  make  way  for  the  plow.  Naturally 
they  were  used  for  constructing  fences,  for  the 
most  economical  way  to  get  rid  of  these  too 
numerous  stones  was  to  make  fences  of  them. 
The  haul  was  short  and  the  fences  could  be 
increased  in  width  and  height  until  storage 
room  was  provided  for  all  the  rocks  which  the 
farmer  cared  to  remove.  So  here,  too,  the 
temptation  was  great  to  fence  the  farm  into 
small  fields.  The  following  diagrams  show  the 
fields  and  the  fences  as  they  were  on  the  old 
homestead,  and  also  as  they  are  at  the  present 
time  (Fig.  137). 

Changed  agricultural  conditions  imply  fewer 
fences  and  the  adoption,  in  part  at  least,  of  the 
soiling  system.  Then,  too,  the  introduction  of 
the  horn -fly  makes  a  radical  change  imperative 
in  the  summering  of  the  dairy.  This  worst  of 
all  dairy  pests  robs  the  cow  of  flesh  and  the 
owner  of  profit. 

Now  that  the  silo  is  an  assured  success, 
except  under  rare  conditions,  soiling,  or  the 
partial    soiling    system,   should    be   adopted    on 


338 


The    Farmstead 


many  farms,  especially  in  the  dairy  districts. 
The  object  should  be  to  provide  a  continuous 
and  full  supply  of  food,  and  comfortable  con- 
ditions for  the  animals 
at  all  times.  In  May 
and  June  the  pastures 
are  succulent  and  the 
grasses  usually  abun- 
dant, and  the  annoying 
flies  are  not  present. 
When  the  animals  are 
first  turned  out  on  the 
pastures  the  nights  may 
be  too  cold  and  damp 
for  comfort,  in  which 
case  they  may  be  sta- 
bled and  fed  a  small 
supplemental  ration;  in 
fact,  cows  in  milk  should 
always  receive  some 
dry,  concentrated  food 
for  the  first  few  weeks 
after  they  are  turned 
out  to  grass.  Often 
the  early  grass  is  over- succulent  and  deficient  in 
food  constituents  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
cows  cannot  eat  enough  to  sustain  life  and  pro- 
duce the  most  profitable  quantities  of  milk. 
When  the  pastures  begin  to  fail,  the  flies  appear 


w 

RP' 

1 

i 

M 

if 

PMED 

W.-Wood  R.R-ftouqli  y,«9t;ure       ' ' * 

Fig.  137.  The  old-time  fence  system 
on  the  right ;  the  present  condi- 
tion on  the  left. 


Fences  and  the  Hornfly  339 

and  the  days  are  hot,  manifestly  the  animals 
will  be  most  comfortable  in  the  stables  in  the 
day  time  and  in  the  pastures  at  night.  This 
system  will  permit  of  reducing  the  pastures 
nearly  one -half,  and  the  removal  of  all  fences 
except  those  which*  surround  the  permanent 
pasture  land.  If  it  is  desired  occasionally  to 
pasture  a  part  of  the  unenclosed  land,  a 
light  woven  wire  fence,  which  can  be  easily 
erected  and  removed,  may  be  constructed.  All 
changes  in  the  present  system  of  summering 
animals  should  be  towards  smaller  areas  of 
pasture -land,  fewer  fences,  more  comfortable 
conditions  for  animals,  economy  of  effort,  and 
control  of  food -supplies  for  the  animals  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year. 

In  most  of  the  states  the  laws  require  each 
farmer  to  restrain  his  own  animals  without  the 
aid  of  the  neighbors;  hence  the  road -fence,  often 
the  most  unsightly  and  ill  kept  of  all  the  fences, 
may  be  discarded.  How  many  of  the  inside 
fences  would  best  be  removed  depends  upon 
circumstances;  but  certain  it  is  that  a  more 
rational  system  of  restraining  and  feeding  cattle 
will  be  adopted  than  the  one  now  almost  univer- 
sally in  use.  We  cannot  destroy  the  hornfly; 
we  can  remove  the  useless  fences  and  house  the 
animals  in  stables  from  which  the  pestiferous 
flesh-  and  milk -reducing  flies  are  excluded. 


340  The   Farmstead 

ORCHARDS 

In  some  fruit  districts  the  farmers  are  cut- 
ting down  their  orchards,  saying  that  they  can- 
not afford  to  bother  with  them,  and  that  fruit- 
raising  must  be  carried  on  in  a  large  way  by 
specialists  to  be  profitable.  This  is  tantamount 
to  saying  that  they  are  not  intelligent  and 
enterprising  enough  to  manage  six  or  eight 
acres  of  orchard  successfully,  while  their  neigh- 
bor is  competent  to  care  for  ten  times  that 
acreage.  The  man  who  owns  the  smaller  or- 
chard should,  other  things  being  equal,  secure  a 
relatively  larger  profit  than  the  owner  of  the 
large  orchard,  since  he  will  be  able  to  give 
it  more  personal  attention.  The  man  who  over- 
comes the  difficulties  of  fruit-raising  is  con- 
stantly adding  to  his  education  and  power, 
while  the  man  who  is  appalled  with  the  difficul- 
ties of  orcharding,  and  falls  back  on  rye, 
buckwheat  and  oats  as  money-crops,  sinks  in 
intelligence  and  loses  courage.  The  orchard, 
when  intelligently  cared  for,  seldom  fails  to  give 
much  larger  profits  than  a  like  area  devoted 
to  the  cereals.  As  a  rule,  the  most  difficult 
crop  to  raise  or  the  most  difficult  business  is 
the  one  which  brings  the  most  liberal  reward 
after    the    difficulties   have    been  surmounted. 

When  convenient,   the  orchard  might  well   be 


The   Farm    Orchard  341 

set  to  the  north  or  west  of  the  buildings,  in 
most  sections  of  the  United  States,  but  not  so 
close  to  them  as  to  prevent  a  good  air  passage 
between  it  and  the  dwelling.  Low-headed  fruit 
trees  should  not  be  set  in  the  house  yard  or 
near  to  it.  The  trees  in  most  orchards  are  set 
too  close  together,  and  even  when  set  appro- 
priate distances  apart  it  will  be  found  to  be 
unprofitable,  in  the  long  run,  to  grow  two  crops 
on  the  same  land  at  the  same  time,  as  wheat  or 
oats  and  apples.  Specific  directions  for  the  care 
and  management  of  orchards  can  now  be  found 
in  well  written  books  and  bulletins  ;  therefore 
there  is  no  occasion  for  treating  orchards  in 
detail  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  farmer 
without  an  abundance  of  fruits  in  their  season 
is  like  the  lad  with  empty  pockets  outside  the 
circus  tent :  lots  of  fruit  and  fun,  ready  to  be 
enjoyed  by  those  who  have  made  thoughtful  pro- 
vision for  the  gratification  of  desires  which  always 
come,  sooner  or  later.  Every  farmer  should 
grow  most  of  the  fruits  suited  to  his  soil  and 
climate, — enough  to  eat  and  to  sell  and  to  give 
to  the  worthy  poor. 

FARM   GARDEN 

The  farm  garden  should  be  ample  and  con- 
tain not  only  enough  vegetable  and  small  fruits 
for   the  use  of   the  family,  but   a  surplus  to  sell 


342  The   Farmstead 

or  to  give  away.  The  farmer  used  to  large 
areas  is  reluctant  to  undertake  anything  so 
small  as  he  imagines  the  garden  to  be  ;  hence, 
too  often  he  plows  it  and  leaves  the  planting 
and  cultivation  of  it  to  the  "women  folks."  If 
he  knew  how  to  manage  a  garden  he  would  find 
that  the  half- acre  of  land  devoted  to  small 
fruits  and  vegetables  could  be  made  the  most 
profitable  and  pleasurable  part  of  the  farm. 
Higher  remuneration  is  received  for  the  time 
spent  in  harvesting  the  products  of  a  large, 
well  kept  garden,  than  in  harvesting  the  cereals 
or  milking  the  cows.  It  must  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  there  are  good  reasons  for  the 
farmer's  distaste  for  gardening,  for  the  gardens, 
as  usually  laid  out,  necessitate  the  maximum 
of  hand-culture  and  the  minimum  of  horse-cul- 
ture. The  result  of  such  gardens  is  a  minimum 
of  products  secured  by  maximum  of  effort,  and 
a  resultant   surplus  of   weeds. 

The  garden  should  be  about  four  times  as 
long  as  it  is  broad,  unfenced  when  possible, 
near  to  the  house,  and  should  be,  in  minia- 
ture, a  farm  with  the  cereals,  grasses,  and 
large  fruits  left  out  (Fig.  138).  The  side 
farthest  from  the  dwelling  should  be  devoted  to 
the  perennial  plants,  such  as  grapes,  currants 
and  other  bush-fruits.  Everything  should  be 
planted  in  straight  rows,  with  spaces    sufficiently 


The   Home    Garden  343 

wide  between  the  rows  to  admit  of  horse-hoe 
culture.  The  grapes  and  blackberries  might 
occupy  one  row,  the  raspberries  and  currants 
a  second  row,  rhubarb,  asparagus  and  like 
plants   a  third   row.     The  spaces    between   these 


Pig.  138.    Plan  of  a  home  garden. 

various  fruits  should  be  eight  feet,  as  it  is  poor 
economy  to  so  crowd  vines  and  bushes  as  to 
force  them  to  struggle  the  year  through  for 
plant-food  and  moisture.  A  rod  or  two  of  land, 
more  or  less,  virtually  amounts  to  nothing  on 
the  farm ;  crowding  the  plants  is  only  admis- 
sible in  the  city  or  village.  Here  the  plants 
may  receive  unusual  care,  and  often  may  be 
irrigated  at  fruiting  time  from  the  city  hydrant. 
The  rows  of  ordinary  vegetables  may  be  thirty 
inches  apart,  except  in  case  of  such  plants  as 
onions,  lettuce,  and  early  beets.  These  small, 
slow-growing  esculents  should  be  planted  in 
double  rows.  Starting  from  the  last  row  of 
potatoes  a  thirty  inch  space  is  measured  off, 
a  row  of  lettuce  planted,  and  then  one  foot  from 


344  The   Farmstead 

this  a  row  of  beets  or  onions  ;  then  leave  a 
space  thirty  inches  wide  and  again  plant  double 
rows,  if  more  of  the  small  esculents  are  wanted. 
The  larger  spaces  may  be  cultivated  by  horse- 
hoe  and  the  smaller  spaces  by  hand -hoe.  The 
entire  garden  which  is  to  be  planted  in  the 
spring  should  be  kept  fertile  and  plowed  early 
in  the  spring,  leaving  that  part  of  it  which  is 
not  designed  for  immediate  planting  unharrowed. 
It  may  be  necessary  to  replow.  It  certainly 
will  be  necessary  to  cultivate  several  times 
that  part  of  the  garden  which  is  used  for 
late  -  growing  crops,  such  as  cabbage  and 
celery.  As  a  rule,  the  farmer  cannot  afford 
to  attempt  to  raise  two  crops  on  the  same  land 
the  same  year,  since  labor  is  everything  and 
the  use  of  land  nothing  ;  therefore,  better  pre- 
pare the  ground  by  two  or  three  plowings  for 
the  late  crops,  than  to  attempt  to  raise  them 
on  land  which  has  parted  with  much  of  its 
readily  available  plant- food  in  producing  the 
early  crop.  Then,  too,  land  which  has  produced 
one  crop  is  likely  to  be  deficient  in  moisture, 
while  land  that  has  been  plowed  two  or  three 
times  during  the  summer  and  kept  well  har- 
rowed will  be  moist  and  contain  an  abundance 
of  readily  available  plant-food.  Early  in  the 
spring,  when  the  land  is  cold  and  often  too 
moist,  it   is  best   to  leave   the    soil   rough   for   a 


The   Home    Garden  345 

time  if  it  is  not  to  be  planted  immediately, 
that  it  may  become  somewhat  dry  and  warm. 
As  a  rule,  the  garden  should  not  be  fenced, 
but  the  chickens  should  be  restrained  by  fences 
a  part  of  the  time  ;  at  other  times  they 
may  have  free  access  to  the  garden,  where  they 
are  often  very  beneficial  in  reducing  the  insect 
enemies. 


INDEX 


Abandoned  lands,  significance  of,  31. 
Agricultural  statistics,   8;    what  they 

do  riot  show,  10. 
Agriculturists,  what  they  have  done,  8. 
Air  space  required  in  cow  stables,  281. 
Anglo-Saxon,  cause  of  superiority,  50. 
Animal,  necessity  of  exercise  for,  278; 

voidings,  how  cared   for  in   stables, 


Asphalt  for  stable  floors,  292. 


[277. 


Bailey,  Professor  L.  H.,  quoted,  7. 

Bailey,  chap,  xiv,  237. 

Balloon  frames,  129. 

Barns,  288;  basement,  location  of,  268; 
building  the  basement,  266 ;  connected 
by  covered  way  to  house,  257;  dis- 
cussion of,  249;  distance  to  locate 
from  house,  257;  economy  in  con- 
struction, 253;  excavations  for,  268; 
high  large  ones  preferable,  253;  loca- 
tion of,  255;  octagonal,  discussion  of, 
254;  planning,  259 ;  size  required,  249; 
water  supply  for,  261;  why  large  ones 
are  required,  250. 

Barnyards,  open  ones  objectionable, 
258;  paddocks  are  preferable  to,  259. 

Basement  barns,  bridging  for,  269;  lo- 
cation of,  268;  on  level  ground,  269; 
floors,  how  to  construct,  277;  walls, 
how  to  prevent  dampness  on,  275; 
wood  preferable  to  stone,  275. 

Beauty  and  utility  should  be  com- 
bined, 107. 

Bonanza  farming,  cause  of  decline. 
36-38. 

Brick  used  in  stable  floors,  278. 

Building  the  barn,  chap,  xvii,  288; 
framing,     289;      horse    stables,  294; 


lightning  rods  on  barns,  296;  paint- 
ing the  barn,  296;  plank  frames,  290; 
protecting  the  root-cellar,  289;  re- 
pairing old  barn  floors,  293;  roof 
of  barns,  296;  stable  floors,  292;  win- 
dows, 295. 

Cattle,  stanchions  for,  284. 

Cement,  Portland,  cost  and  mixing  of, 
274;  proportion  of,  to  sand  in  mortar, 
273. 

Changes  in  houses,  considerations,  85. 

Children,  city  and  country  compared,  3. 

Cisterns  as  a  source  of  water  supply, 
263. 

Cleanliness,  and  sanitation,  water  sup- 
ply and  sewage,  chap,  xii,  204;  bac- 
teria, harmful  and  beneficial,  204-206 ; 
bath  room,  210;  bath  tubs,  213;  cess 
pools,  220;  closets,  210;  disinfectants, 
207;  dry-earth  closets,  222;  kitchen 
sink,  212;  laundry,  214;  outhouses, 
216;  personal  cleanliness,  209;  pipes, 
212;  sewage,  219;  water  closets,  214; 
water  supply,  217. 

College  buildings  and  what  they  illus- 
trate, 104. 

Colleges.  Land    Grant,  aim  of,  14;  en- 

'    dowment,  14;  data  of  incomes,  15. 

Competence,  how  obtained,  20. 

Concentration  of  barns,  84. 

Counsel  at  the  right  time,  69. 

Country  churches,  119. 

Country  life,  what  it  stands  for,  74; 
what    things  have  no  place  in  it,  74. 

Country  school  houses,  119-122. 

Cows,  air  space  required  for,  280,  281; 
mangers  for,  section  of,  286. 


(347) 


348 


Index 


Crops,  good  and  poor,  27;  specialized, 
baleful  results  of,  33. 

Dams  for  artificial  pools,  how  to  con- 
struct, 262. 
Decorations  inside,  193. 
Deeds  and  abstracts,  67. 
Demolins,  M,  quoted.  50. 

Economy,  224. 

Educating  the  eye  and  judgment,  107. 

Education,  by  contact  with  nature,  4; 

higher,  concentration  necessary,  52; 

higher,  in  the  past,  13;  industrial,  14. 
Evolution  of  high  wages,  25. 
External    construction,    principles  of, 

108. 

Farm  buildings,  concentrated  and  dis- 
tributive, 251;  concentrated  system 
preferable,  252;  examples  of  mis- 
takes, 89. 

Farm  laborers,  wages  received  by,  253. 

Farmers'  contribution  to  economic 
status  of  the  United  States,  9. 

Farms,  selection  of  — climatic  condi- 
tions, 55;  cheap  lands,.  56;  water 
supply,  57. 

Farms  overloaded  with  buildings,  88. 

"  Farming  doesn't  pay,"  6. 

Fences,  336. 

Fields,  the,  chap,  xxi,  336. 

Filigree  work,  not  for  farm  houses, 
96. 

First  impressions,  116. 

Floors,  basement,  how  to  construct, 
277;  cows  to  stand  upon,  280;  stable, 
wooden  ones  preferable,  278. 

Foundations  for  buildings,  how 
squared,  266. 

Foundation  walls,  properly  and  im- 
properly bonded,  272. 

Frost  pockets,  76. 

Furnishing,  193. 

Garden,  farm,  341;  planting  the,  342. 
Gingerbread  cornices,  130. 


Ground  floor  unhealthy,  77. 
Gypsum,  use  of  in  stables,  277. 

Heating.  190. 

Home  education  suggestions,  48. 
Home,  old  (should  be  preserved),  112; 
suggestions  for  improvement  of,  113. 
Home  training,  46. 
Homestead,  improving  the  old,  114. 
Horn-fly,  reference  to,  337. 

House,  building  the,  chap,  viii,  132 ; 
brick  and  stone  houses,  169  ;  chim- 
neys—flue linings,  140,  openings  for, 
141;  excluding  vermin  from  the,  135  ; 
foundations,  building  the,  138  ;  mor- 
tar for  foundations,  139  ;  protecting 
from  frost,  136  ;  the  cellar,  133,  134. 
Wooden  houses— the  frame,  142 ; 
bridging  the  joists,  143  ;  cutting 
braces  and  rafters,  150 ;  diagonal 
boarding,  144  ;  girders  for  second- 
story  joists,  145  ;  made-up  timbers, 
146;  old  houses,  170;  roofs— kinds  of, 
147,  pitch  of,  149  ;  studding,  size  of, 
143;  the  story-and-a-half,  155. 

House  furnishing  and  decoration, 
chap,  xi,  193  ;  carpets  vs.  rugs,  196  ; 
decorations,  200;  draperies,  198;  gen- 
eral principles,  193-196. 

House,  location  of,  74;  extremes,  75; 
on  elevated  lands,  76,  80,  82. 

House  of  pioneer,  where  located,  75. 

House,  old  farm,  an  example  of  a  good, 
90-91. 

House  sites— old  and  new,  84. 

House  sites  to  be  avoided,  82;  near 
middle  of  estate,  83;  and  highway, 
83. 

House  with  many  gables,  96. 

Houses,  exposed  and  overshaded,  117, 
118;  planning,  94;  studying  other 
models,  95;  useless  cost  of,  95. 

Houses,  farm,  not  a  direct  source  of 
income,  87;  mistakes  in  building, 
87;  what  they  are  for,  87. 

Houses,  old  farm,  85. 

Houses,  veneered,  168. 


Index 


349 


Household  administration,  economy 
and  comfort,  chap,  xiii,  224;  a  definite 
income,  225;  bargain-hunting,  229; 
cash  vs.  credit,  286;  economy  of 
health,  232;  keeping  accounts,  230; 
reading  matter,  235;  systematic 
buying,  227;  the  farmer's  diet,  234; 
the  wife's  share,  225. 

Improvements  on  the  farm,  59. 

Inappropriate  styles  of  architecture, 
124. 

Inside  finish,  heating  and  ventilation, 
chap,  x,  181;  baseboards,  183;  facings, 
186;  finish,  hard  oil,  186;  floors,  182; 
patent  mortars,  188;  plastered  walls, 
186-188;  picture  moulding,  184;  stairs, 
185;  wainscoting,  185.  Heating- 
steam  recommended,  191 ;  systems  of, 
compared,  190.     Ventilation,  191. 

Land  for  market-gardening,  61. 

Lands,  cheap,  56. 

Lawns,  243. 

Lawyer  and  the  farmer,  73. 

Lawyer,  province  of  the  true,  72. 

Lawyers,  65. 

Level  country,  disadvantages  of  loca- 
tion in,  overcome,  78. 

Leisure  and  study,  13. 

Light  and  air,  106. 

Lightning,  artificial,  322 ;  brush  dis- 
charge, 326  ;  discharges,  323  ;  disrup- 
tive discharge,  326  ;  protection  from, 
324;  protection  from  by  metal  roofs, 
324  ;  protection  from  by  steam  and 
gas  pipes,  325  ;  protecting  wooden 
roofs  from,  326. 

Lightning  protection,  chap,  xx,  321. 

Lightning  rods,  328-336 ;  insulation 
of,  331 ;  joints  for,  333  ;  the  conduc- 
tor, 329  ;  the  ground  connection,[334. 

Lime,  proportion  of,  to  sand  in  mor- 
tar, 273. 

Lime,  stone,  retail  price  of  per  bbl., 
274;  water,  retail  price  of  per  bbl., 274. 

Lumbering,  effect  of,  38. 


Manger  for  cows,  cross-section  of,  286  ; 
how  constructed,  285. 

Market-gardening,  land  for,  61. 

Mistakes  in  locating,  100. 

Mortar,  amount  of  water  to  use  in  mix- 
ing, 275  ;  how  to  mix,  273. 

Nature  study,  111. 

Newton  cattle  tie  illustrated  and  de- 
scribed, 286. 
Norris,  H.H.,  chap,  xx,  321. 

Occupation,  selection  of,  21. 

Old  barns,  remodeling,  298. 

Orchards,  340;  care  of,  341. 

Outbuildings  and  accessories,  chap. 
xix;  306;  piggeries,  311;  portable 
coops,  309  ;  poultry  houses,  306  ;  the 
silo,  316. 

Outside  covering,  painting,  chap.  ix. 
158 ;  cornices,  164 ;  painting  the 
house,  173  ;  adulterated  paints,  179  ; 
analyses  of  paints,  180;  oils  for  paint- 
ing, 177;  roofs— construction  of,  165  ; 
shingles  165,  shingling  167  ;  siding- 
novelty  and  lap,  160  ;  the  projections, 
158,  164;  the  water-table,  158;  valleys, 
173. 

Parents  as  teachers,  45. 

Piggeries,  311. 

Plain  cornices,  126. 

Plan,  ground,  not  adapted  to  country, 
98;  adapted  to  country,  99,  101. 

Plant-food,  natural  cheaper  than  arti- 
ficial, 62. 

Pools  in  level  country,  78. 

Pools  in  the  South,  how  constructed, 
262. 

Poultry  Houses, '306. 

Quality  in  farm  products,  32. 

Red  River  valley  soil,  nitrogen  in,  37. 

Remodeling  old  barns,  chap,  xviii,  298; 
combining  several  old  frames,  299; 
form  of  roof,  302;  trussing  to  elimi- 
nate posts,  301, 


350 


Index 


Remuneration  in  agriculture,  7. 

Renter  and  renting  discussed,  40. 

Road  to  farm,  63. 

Road  fences,  may  be  discarded,  339. 

Root  cellar,  location  of  in  barn,  270. 

Rosendale  cement,  proportion  to  mix, 
274. 

Rural  life;  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages, 2;  greatest  advantage  of,  5. 

Rural  population,  wants  and  aspira- 
tions, 19. 

Sanitation,  204. 

Scenery,  natural,  its  value,  58. 

Schoenfield,  Mr.  G.,  an  intensive  agri- 
culturist, 22;  his  crops  and  their 
value,  23. 

School,  district,  sketch  of  a  day  in,  47. 

School  children,  effects  of  massing,  44. 

Schools,  rural,  43. 

Sewage,  204. 

Shadows  cast  by  walls,  106. 

Ship  construction  of  houses,  128. 

Silos,  316. 

Silo,  reference  to  use  of,  337. 

Smith,  Mrs.  M.  R.,  chap,  xi,  193;  chap, 
xii,  204;  chap,  xiii,  224. 

Soil  and  subsoil  for  house  location, 
80. 

Soiling  system,  referred  to,  337,  338. 

Stable  floors,  292;  wooden  ones  prefer- 
able, 278;  drip  in,  how  constructed, 
280;  how  to  secure  sanitary  condi- 
tions, in  277;  stanchions  for  cattle, 
284. 

Stalls  for  cows,  how  constructed,  285. 

Stock  on  the  farms  in  U.  S.  in  1870  and 
1890,  250. 


Tillage,   cost    of,    considered    in    land 

value,  62. 
Types  of  dwelling  houses,  109. 

Van  Vleet,  D.  F.,  chap,  v,  65. 

Ventilation,  191;  principles  of,  283; 
secured  by  swing  windows,  282. 

Ventilators  for  stables,  how  con- 
structed, 282. 

Veranda— a  poor  example,  96;  outlook 
from,  81;   shading,  103. 

Vistas  and  views  brought  into  the 
landscape,  81. 

Warner,  Prof.  Amos  G.,  quoted,  3. 
Walls,  stone,  how  to  bond,  272. 
Water  for  animals,  temperature  best  in 

winter,  264. 
Water  supply  and  sewage,  204. 
Water  supply,  artificial  pools  for,  262  ; 

for  animals,  should  be  in  barn,  264  ; 

for     buildings,     261 ;      springs     and 

streams,  264.       \ 
Water,  cold,  effect  upon  the    animal, 

265  ;    lime,   retail  price  of  per  bbl., 

274. 
Wells,  71. 

Wheat,  production  and  cost  of,  30. 
Windows,   swing,  how  constructed   in 

stables,  282. 
Writing,  matters  of  importance  should 

be  in,  71. 

Yard  (the  house  yard) ,  chap,  xiv,  237 ; 
driveways  and  walks,  239;  flowers, 
247;  planting,  scattered  and  in  groups, 
339;  the  lawn,  243;  vines  and  creep- 
ers, 247. 


CYCLOPEDIA  OF  AMERICAN 
HORTICULTURE 

By  L.  H.  BAILEY 

Of  Cornell  University,  assisted  by  WILHELM  MILLER,  and  many  Expert 
Cultivators  and  Botanists 

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This  great  work  comprises  directions  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  horticultural  crops  and  original  descriptions  of 
all  the  species  of.  fruits,  vegetables,  flowers  and  orna- 
mental plants  known  to  be  in  the  market  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  "It  has  the  unique  distinction  of 
presenting  for  the  first  time,  in  a  carefully  arranged 
and  perfectly  accessible  form,  the  best  knowledge  of  the 
best  specialists  in  America  upon  gardening,  fruit-grow- 
ing, vegetable  culture,  forestry,  and  the  like,  as  well  as 
exact  botanical  information.  .  .  .  The  contributors 
are  eminent  cultivators  or  specialists,  and  the  arrange- 
ment is  very  systematic,  clear  and  convenient  for  ready 
reference." 

"We  have  here  a  work  which  every  ambitious  gardener  will  wish  to  place 
on  his  shelf  beside  his  Nicholson  and  his  Loudon,  and  for  such  users  of  it  a  too 
advanced  nomenclature  would  have  been  confusing  to  the  last  degree.  With  the 
safe  names  here  given  there  is  little  liability  to  serious  perplexity.  There  is  a 
growing  impatience  with  much  of  the  controversy  concerning  revision  of  names 
oi'organisms,  whether  of  plants  or  animals.  Those  investigators  who  are  busied 
with  the  ecological  aspects  of  organisms,  and  also  those  who  are  ehiefly  concerned 
with  the  application  of  plants  to  the  arts  of  agriculture,  horticulture,  and  so  on, 
care  for  the  names  of  organisms  under  examination  only  so  far  as  these  aid  in 
recognition  and  identification.  To  introduce  unnecessary  confusion  is  a  serious 
blunder.  Professor  Bailey  has  avoided  the  risk  of  confusion.  In  short,  in  ranpe, 
treatment  and  editing,  the  Cyclopedia  appears  to  be  emphatically  useful:  ...  a 
work  worthy  of  ranking  by  the  side  of  the  Century  Dictionary." — The  Nation. 

This  work  is  sold  only  by  subscription,  and  terms  and  further 
information  may  be  had  of  the  publishers. 


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LESSONS  WITH  PLANTS 

Suggestions  for  Seeing  and  Interpreting  Some  of  the 
Common  Forms  of  Vegetation 

By    L.  H.  BAILEY 

With  delineations  from  nature  by  W.  S.  HOLDSWORTH,  of  the 
Agricultural  College  of  Michigan 

SEVENTH  EDITION-491  PAGES-446  ILLUSTRATIONS- 12M0- 
CLOTH— $1.10  NET 

There  are  two  ways  of  looking"  at  nature.  The  old 
way,  which  you  have  found  so  unsatisfactory,  was  to 
classify  everything — to  consider  leaves,  roots,  and  whole 
plants  as  formal  herbarium  specimens,  forgetting  that 
each  had  its  own  story  of  growth  and  development, 
struggle  and  success,  to  tell.  Nothing  stifles  a  natural 
love  for  plants  more  effectually  than  that  old  way. 

The  new  way  is  to  watch  the  life  of  every  growing 
thing,  to  look  upon  each  plant  as  a  living  creature, 
whose  life  is  a  story  as  fascinating  as  the  story  of  any 
favorite  hero.  "Lessons  with  Plants"  is  a  book  of 
stories,  or  rather,  a  book  of  plays,  for  we  can  see  each 
chapter  acted  out  if  we  take  the  trouble  to  look  at  the 
actors. 

"I  have  spent  some  time  in  most  delightful  examination  of  it,  and  the  longer 
I  look,  the  better  I  like  it.  I  find  it  not  only  full  of  interest,  but  eminently  sug- 
gestive. I  know  of  no  book  which  begins  to  do  so  much  to  open  the  eyes  of  the 
student— whether  pupil  or  teacher— to  the  wealth  of  meaning  contained  in  simple 
plant  forms.  Above  all  else,  it  seems  to  be  full  of  suggestions  that  help  one  to 
learn  the  language  of  plants,  so  they  may  talk  to  him."— Darwin  L.  Bardwell, 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  Binghamton. 

"It  is  an  admirable  book,  and  cannot  fail  both  to  awaken  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject, and  to  serve  as  a  helpful  and  reliable  guide  to  young  students  of  plant  life. 
It  will,  I  think,  fill  an  important  place  in  secondary  schools,  and  comes  at  an  op- 
portune time,  when  helps  of  this  kind  are  needed  and  eagerly  sought."— Professor 
V.  M.  Spalding,  University  of  Michigan. 

FIRST  LESSONS  WITH   PLANTS 

An  Abridgement  of  the  above 

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BOTANY 

An  Elementary  Text  for  Schools 

By   L.  H.  BAILEY 

TWELFTH  EDITION-431  PAGES-500  ILLUSTRATIONS -$1.10  NET 

"This  book  is  made  for  the  pupil:  'Lessons  With 
Plants '  was  made  to  supplement  the  work  of  the 
teacher."  This  is  the  opening  sentence  of  the  preface, 
showing  that  the  book  is  a  companion  to  "Lessons 
With  Plants,"  which  has  now  become  a  standard 
teacher's  book.  The  present  book  is  the  handsomest 
elementary  botanical  text- book  yet  made.  The  illustra- 
tions illustrate.  They  are  artistic.  The  old  formal  and 
unnatural  Botany  is  being  rapidly  outgrown.  The  book 
disparages  mere  laboratory  work  of  the  old  kind:  the 
pupil  is  taught  to  see  things  as  they  grow  and  behave. 
The  pupil  who  goes  through  this  book  will  understand 
the  meaning  of  the  plants  which  he  sees  day  by  day.  It 
is  a  revolt  from  the  dry -as -dust  teaching  of  botany.  It 
cares  little  for  science  for  science's  sake,  but  its  point 
of  view  is  nature-study  in  its  best  sense.  The  book  is 
divided  into  four  parts,  any  or  all  of  which  may  be  used 
in  the  school:  the  plant  itself;  the  plant  in  its  environ- 
ment; histology,  or  the  minute  structure  of  plants;  the 
kinds  of  plants  (with  a  key,  and  descriptions  of  300 
common  species).  The  introduction  contains  advice  to 
teachers. 

"An  exceedingly  attractive  text-book." -Educational  Review. 

"  It  is  a  school  book  of  the  modern  methods."— The  Dial. 

"It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better  manual  for  schools  or  for  individual  use.' 
The  Outlook. 


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FOR  THE  STVUBST  OF  AGRICULTURAL  CHEMISTRj 

By  HARRY   SNYDER,  B.S. 

Professor  of  Agricultural  Chemistry,  University  of  Minnesota,  and  Chemist 
of  the  Minnesota  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 

The  Chemistry  of  Plant  and  Animal  Life 

Illustrated.     Cloth.    12mo.    406  pages.    $1.25;  by  mail,  $1.35. 

"The  language  is,  as  it  should  be,  plain  and  simple,  free  from  all  needless 
technicality,  and  the  story  thus  told  is  of  absorbing  interest  to  every  one, 
man  or  woman,  boy  or  girl,  who  takes  an  intelligent  interest  in  farm  life." 
—The  New  England  Farmer. 

"Although  the  book  is  highly  technical,  it  is  put  in  popular  form  and  mad« 
comprehensible  from  the  standpoint  of  the  farmer;  it  deals  largely  with 
those  questions  which  arise  in  his  experience,  and  will  prove  an  invaluable 
aid  in  countless  directions."— The  Farmer's  Voice. 

Dairy  Chemistry 

Illustrated.  190  pages.  $1  net ;  by  mail,  $1.10. 
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Soils  and  Fertilizers 

Third  Edition.    Illustrated.    $1.25  net;  by  mail,  $1.38 

A  book  which  presents  in  a  concise  form  the  principles  of  soil  fer- 
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the  Committee  on  Methods  of  Teaching  Agriculture.  It  contains 
350  pages,  with  illustrations,  and  treats  of  a  great  variety  of  sub- 
jects, such  as  Physical  Properties  of  Soils;  Geological  Formation, 
etc.;  Nitrogen  of  the  Soil  and  Air;  Farm  Manures;  Commercial 
Fertilizers,  several  chapters;  Rotation  of  Crops;  Preparation  of 
Soil  for  Crops,  etc. 


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NEW  BOOKS    FOX    THE    FARM    LIBRARY 

MR.  BOLTON    HALL'S 

Three  Acres  and  Liberty 

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By   ALLEN    FRENCH 

A  Book  of  Vegetables  and  Garden  Herbs 

A  Practical  Handbook  and  Planting  Table  for  the  Home  Garden 
This  book  gives  complete  directions  for  growing  all  vege- 
tables cultivable  in  the  climate  of  the  northern  United  States. 
Besides  a  description  of  each  plant,  its  habit,  value,  and  use, 
the  book  contains  detailed  cultural  directions,  covering  the 
soil,  planting  distances,  times  for  sowing,  thinning  and  trans- 
planting, fertilizing,  picking,  winter  protection,  renewal, 
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By   KATE   V.  ST.  MAUR 

A  Self-supporting  Home 

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month  — in  the  vegetable  garden,  among  the  small  fruits,  with  the  fowls, 
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the  small  farm." — Louisville  Courier- Journal. 

Cloth.  12mo.    Fully  illustrated  from  photographs. 
$1.75  net,  by  mail,  $1.88. 

By  W.  S.  HARWOOD 

The  New  Earth 

A  Recital  of  the  Triumphs  of  Modern  Agriculture  is  America. 
Mr.  Harwood  shows  in  a  very  entertaining  way  the  remark- 
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CYCLOPEDIA  OF  AMERICAN 
AGRICULTURE 

Edited  by  L.  H.  BAILEY 

Of  Cornell  University,  Editor  of  "Cyclopedia  of  American  Horticulture," 
Author  of  "Plant  Breeding,"  "Principles  of  Agriculture,"  etc. 

WITH  100  FULL-PAGE  PLATES  AND  MORE  THAN  2,000  ILLUS- 
TRATIONS IN  THE  TEXT -FOUR  VOLUMES  — THE  SET  • 
CLOTH,  $20  NET-HALF-MOROCCO,  $32  NET-CARRIAGE  EXTRA 

Volume  I— Farms 

The  Agricultural  Regions— The   Projecting  of   a  Farm  — The   Soil 
Environment  — The  Atmosphere  Environment. 

Volume  II  —Crops 

The  Plant  and  Its  Relations  — The  Manufacture  of  Crop  Products  - 
North  American  Field  Crops. 

Volume  III— Animals 

The  Animal  and  Its  Relations  — The  Manufacture  of  Animal  Prod- 
ucts—North American  Farm  Animals. 

Volume  IV— The  Farm  and  the  Community 

Economics  —  Social    Questions  —  Organizations  —  History  —  Litera 
ture,  etc. 

"Indispensable  to  public  and  reference  libraries  .  .  .  readily  comprehei 
sible  to  any  person  of  average  education." — The  Nation. 
"The  completest  existing  thesaurus  of  up-to-date  facts  and  opinions  o» 
modern  agricultural  methods.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  many  years  must  pass 
before  it  can  be  surpassed  in  comprehensiveness,  accuracy,  practical  value, 
and  mechanical  excellence.  It  ought  to  be  in  every  library  in  the  country. ' 
— Record  Herald,  Chicago. 


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